


Wheeling to be with you

by Chinihona



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: AKA the cycling AU nobody asked for, Alternate Universe - College/University, And last tag will be, Bad Flirting, Boys In Love, Fluff and Humor, Hendery - Freeform, Implied Sexual Content, Jaemin is literally whipped for that, Jeno is our friendly neighbourhood mechanic, Johnjaeten to spice things up, M/M, Markhyuck are enemies with benefits, Mutual Pining, Renjun has to deal with his friends poor life choices, Slow Burn, Super Light Angst, lots of cycling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 38,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28687701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chinihona/pseuds/Chinihona
Summary: “This is seriously stupid. You need to stop.” Renjun continued, a little concerned now.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jaemin responded, leaving his coat on a chair and directing his steps towards the bathroom.“You broke your bike twice this week.” His best friend followed him and stood on the doorway, scolding him. “The new one.”“There’re just a significant amount of potholes I can’t avoid on my way to class.””I literally saw you willingly bike into a tree, Jaemin. A motherfucking tree.”Or: Jaemin might look like he is constantly falling into potholes in the street, but actually, he isn’t fooling anyone. He is just falling for his mechanic.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, side
Comments: 32
Kudos: 166





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some months ago I met a new bike mechanic and the only thing inside my brain was an eternal scream of LeE jENo MEchANiC. So here am I, some months later and at 3am uploading this story~
> 
> Hope you enjoy it a lot!

~

Some things were bound to happen. 

Irredeemably, like the sun rising in the horizon every morning; dazzling, with grace, climbing up the invisible stairway of the sky into the midst of it, going downwards, then, gliding towards the other side with just as much grace and delicacy.

It was 7:30 AM on a Wednesday, the sun was already rising, and Jaemin was ready to leave his dorm. Just another thing bound to happen, he guessed, yet not because of nature nor fate but his handful of lacking decisions. In other words, _college._

It was only normal to set your alarm at dawn when you had signed up for a morning class –a thing that Jaemin consciously did– and it was only normal, too, to instantly regret it within the first week.

Something regarding time management and improving his productivity skills had been a big part of the reasoning behind this choice, and no one should be complaining here because he had been rather unyielding at Donghyuck’s complaints over the volume of his alarm at an ungodly hour of the day. (“If you don’t make it stop right about now, I freaking swear Jaemin, I will actually sue you.” “I know the law, Hyuckie. I’m more likely to win in court than you are.”) 

Yet, being true to himself, he didn’t mind the quietness that morning bestowed, lightly and carelessly as the simplest gift. He liked it. What was bothering him concerned other matters.

“Morning.” Jaemin said when he got to the living room, walking straight into the kitchen to fetch his morning daily apple.

On a tall stool by the counter, Renjun hummed without even sparing him a look; just acknowledging Jaemin’s existence, probably still half asleep. He went through his notes as the morning sun filtered through the kitchen’s window like he did almost every day.

“Hyuckie’s door is opened.” Jaemin stated suddenly when he caught sight of the aforementioned boy’s empty bedroom “Is he up yet?”

“Yeah.” Renjun finally looked up and he spotted the prominent dark circles under his roommate's eyes. “He rushed out of the house like ten minutes ago, mumbling about that goddamn scholarship.” 

“He probably hasn't slept at all.”

“Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me.” Renjun yawned softly as he got back to reading his notes, and something about that motion made Jaemin snap out of it. He was also an actual human being with responsibilities, not a passive entity of the dorm whose life exuded freedom.

That was why the second he got the apple, he shuffled back to his bedroom, begrudgingly, to fetch the one and only thing likely to be his doom that morning.

A bike.

Neat and new, shiny, painted with warm orangey colours. Eye-catching. Beautiful.

“This is really happening.” Renjun was no longer sleepy, neither unbothered reading notes in the living room. He was now leaning against his bedroom’s door frame, staring at how Jaemin’s vehicle stood almost mockingly by his side.

In retrospect, Jaemin should have been as unyielding with his mom as he was with Donghyuck, but he hadn’t, unluckily, and however much he liked to blame the events unfolding on her he couldn’t, because in reality it was someone else’s fault. His brother's. 

To put it simply, the guy spent a _ridiculous_ amount of money on a bike he didn’t even test. That’s why you try things before just buying them and assuming you like them by their looks, because things actually have a function. They can be cute but uncomfortable for someone’s specific tastes. That was what his brother didn’t seem to know, since he ended up complaining about how his new bike didn’t fit him like he wanted in their family group chat, which, of course, led to his mother texting a big bold ‘Nana should take it. It’ll sure work for him’.

There were certain things bound to happen because of bad decisions, fate, nature or...his mother, because her ideas were just _immovable_. It didn’t matter if Jaemin would have liked to differ –because biking was just not his thing –he just accepted what was bound to happen because teenagehood taught him better than trying to argue with _Miss Don’t Contradict Me._

“Oh my god, it’s gigantic. Like, so tall. Be careful on your way.” Renjun’s sweet worries lacked sugar as a smirk took over his face. He was a little devil, words wouldn’t ever mask that fact, but Jaemin could sense some actual concern underlying his tone, too.

“I won’t fall, hunny! Who do you think you’re talking to?” He responded lightly, trying to ease him as he started heading out.

~

Every morning Jaemin got to experience the beautiful charms of relying on public transportation: heavy traffic, impolite people and buses out of time. Delightful.

Surprisingly, though, not that day. Jaemin was blissed out by the sunshine poking at his skin, the wind blowing gently at his face and the best thing ever: no traffic. No waiting half an hour on the same traffic light, or each bus stop. No wasting time complaining under his breath over things not working out. 

Going through the cycle lane felt like cheating, in a way, as he passed by the several engines in motion, still and with their tailpipes exhaling smoke that not even the breeze could easily dispel. Jaemin knew, then, that he had been missing out on something, as he saw the streets growing hazy with smoke that wasn’t any of his concern.

It was all smooth and refreshing for him until he heard a loud bang. In less than a second, he felt it reverberate all over his bike and body, and lastly, he felt a sharp sting on his ass.

With a yelp and a little cry of pain, he turned around to spot the pothole he just biked over. It was decidedly a substantial size and the sharp pain lingering all over his lower regions kinda confirmed it.

Goddamn it, how could he ever miss such a visible hole in the middle of the pavement? Jaemin could swear it hadn’t been there before.

After a brief look and having calmed down a bit, his bike seemed to be alright, so he resumed his pedal strikes. A little wary, with more attention on the road but still delighted, because he reached campus faster than normally and he even got five extra minutes to chill on his seat until the lecture began. 

Maybe being bound to use his brother’s expensive new bike wasn’t as much of a nightmare as he previously thought. Maybe he would even get to exercise a bit, release some endorphins and try new things. 

~

Jaemin should’ve known better. 

When he finally got out of class he saw, with certain distraught, all his dreams becoming nightmares in a second. Call him dramatic –you wouldn’t actually be the first one to do so– but nothing could have ever prepared him for the image of his back wheel as flat and airless as a long-lived balloon at the end of a kid’s party. 

The thing is, Jaemin was just a boy, a sophomore student whose mother wouldn’t let him make many decisions as a teenager, so of course he didn’t know how to handle a puncture on his wheel. He wasn’t even sure if that was a puncture or not or if it was even fixable. The only thing he was certain about was that if he suffered, the only possible person to be blamed over his misfortunes should suffer with him, too. 

Without hesitation, he called Jaehyun.

“ _Hi?_ ” An unrecognisable voice greeted after a few rings.

“Who’s this?” Jaemin asked, suspiciously. His brother didn’t really let anyone touch his stuff, not even friends.

“ _Woah, easy there tiger! It’s Johnny here. John for the friends. Who are you? Looking for Jae?_ ” 

Great, he knew Jaehyun. He probably wasn’t a pickpocket.

Still, who the hell was that cheerful guy? It didn’t sound like Sicheng– Jaehyun’s possibly only real friend– and of fucking course Jaemin was looking for his brother, he was literally calling him.

“I’m Jaemin. Jaehyun’s brother.” He settled for answering calmly because Johnny didn’t seem like an impolite guy. It was probably just the dramatic image of his flat wheel before him what was making him feel annoyed. “Where is he?”

“ _He’s showering, I think?”_

“Well I really, really need to talk to him, John. Can you call him?”

Sensing his passive impatience, Johnny mumbled _“Wait, lemme just-”_ as footsteps could be heard in the background. Suddenly, the sound of rain was loud and Jaemin could exactly imagine his brother’s disorientated face while being bothered in the shower, of all places. _“Jae! Your brother’s on the line, he says he really needs to talk to you!_ ”

It only took some seconds of mumbles and rustling, followed by grumbles and what Jaemin assumed was Johnny’s snicker until Jaehyun was on the phone.

“ _Your life better be at stake, Minnie. What’s up?_ ”

“The bike is broken, I’m still on campus, it’s about to get late and I’m alone and hopeless. Your little brother’s life it’s at stake!” He faked some drama, actually striking a pose with his hands as if Jaehyun could see him. Aside from all those facts being true, well, he knew Jaehyun. He loved when his little brother acted cute or joked around theatrically.

As predicted, Jaehyun laughed softly, any previous irritation on his tone already forgotten. “ _How did you even manage to break it already? I gave it to you yesterday._ ”

“Hey, It’s the city’s fault. I fell on a pothole, hyung. It wasn’t cool.” 

“ _Are you alright?!_ ”

“Yeah, I mean I didn’t fall off the bike. But my back wheel is flat right now and I don’t feel like walking home.”

Just after dropping that statement, the line went silent and Jaemin heard those mumbles again. Then, after a tiny bit, Jaehyun was back.

“ _Hey. We can’t really give you a hand right now because we’re busy but-_ ” Jaehyun was fast to keep on going, knowing well how Jaemin was ready to jump at his neck. “ _-but Johnny actually owns a bicycle shop, yeah pretty dope, huh? You shouldn’t be far away from it if you’re still on campus. I actually bought the bike there._ ”

Well, wasn’t that weirdly convenient? Who would have thought. And, by the way, who was that guy who _owned_ a place. What the hell. Jaemin really tried to remember some Johnny somehow related to his brother but there hadn’t ever been one. 

“ _Yeah, man. Come pass by the workshop. The boys will help you. I will just text them you’re gonna- Hey! sto-stop that-_ ” Johnny was interrupted, suddenly, by his own snicker. It soon became an airy laugh, filled with unmistakable blithe and Jaemin couldn’t believe his brother was on a bloody honeymoon, apparently. “ _Stop tickling me, Jae. Come on. Okay, what was I saying? Right, I will text the boys so they wait for you since it’s closing time soon. It’s on the house, don’t you dare pay!_ ”

“ _I will send you the address right now, Minnie. Keep us updated in your whereabouts, take care. Bye!_ ” Jaehyun said in one go and simply hung up on him. What a great older brother. 

In an instant, a notification popped in and he looked upwards, glancing at the buildings enlightened by the golden rays of an impending sunset.

**Hyung**

This is the address 18:21

[location attached] 18:21

**Nana**

Thank you, hyung 18:21

**Hyung**

Btw you’re looking for a boy called Jeno 18:34

Johnny just remembered there’s no one but him today 18:34

  
  


~

The place wasn’t far by any means. It was just a block away from campus, so he got to the building in little less than five minutes. From the outside it looked imposing, with unlimited bicycles hanging from hooks on one wall of the store. On the other side, by the window shop, another vast variety of items were displayed to see, such as sporty clothes and helmets. 

Out of the blue, someone got out of the store with determination in their steps towards the bikes by the wall. The person grabbed a hold of one of the biggest ones as if it weighed nothing and promptly turned around, spotting Jaemin for the first time. 

Now that he had a better view of the person before him, Jaemin had to force himself to maintain eye contact when their eyes met. Shit. The boy –let him say _man_ – looked like a freaking greek god coming straight out of the heavens. His features were sharp and pointy but at the same time smooth and soft like a marshmallow. A very cute one. 

“Uh…” Mr.Greek god hummed, still looking at him straight in the eye with the heavy-looking bike in one hand. Then, after a second he came out of his apparent haze when he spotted the bike Jaemin was carrying. “Oh! Uhm. Hi. Do you happen to be Jaehyun’s brother by any chance? I know that bike.” He said and Jaemin could have melted right then and there at the way the guy pointed at his bike with a shy motion.

How someone who looked like _that_ was able to convey such a soothing tone of voice? That certainly was beyond his understanding of reality. 

“Uh, hi.” Was Jaemin’s definitely awkward and the best attempt at speaking. You could blame him all you want but he was weak for handsome men. And the man before him was more than handsome to him– and anyone with eyes. “Yes, I am.” He confirmed some seconds later, though, finding his words back.

“Oh, great then. I was waiting for you. Do you...want to go inside? So I can check what’s the problem with your bike in the workshop! I’m Jeno, by the way. The mechanic.” 

The polite, but genuine smile on the boy’s face as he spoke was what left Jaemin speechless, once again, because his eyelids got to be like little moon crescents as he did so. Safe to say Jaemin wanted to cry about it; or save that sweet image on his mind for a sad moment, at least.

“Yes, of course. I’m Na Jaemin” 

Smiling, Jaemin accepted Jeno opening the door for him at the words of ‘Come in’ and entered the bike shop with a twist in his guts at the action. It was a little bit stupid, Jaemin knew it, but he couldn’t help it; Jeno was an actual existing creature who opened doors politely. What the hell.

Unsurprisingly, the first thing he saw inside were more bicycles hanging from the left corner of the shop. However, they were neater and more elegant, which Jaemin guessed made them more expensive. In an instant he confirmed they were, because he spotted one that was the same model as his, but a bright light-blue. 

During his curious inspection, Jeno had closed the door and approached the counter to set the bike he still carried by the wooden surface. Then, he was out somewhere else.

“Well, what happened to the beauty?” 

Jaemin heard Jeno’s voice coming from the other room and was a little puzzled by the question, but he was able to get the memo that _the beauty_ meant _his bike_ and Jeno was asking what happened with it.

He was rather tempted to lie because the actual reason was embarrassing but Jaemin wasn’t really keen on making up stories. Thus, he just explained what happened while staring at a spot on the wall.

“I-I was kinda enjoying life, you know. The wind on my face, lil’ birds chirping in the morning and such, and I, maybe, forgot to check out the road? There was a pothole.”

After hearing that Jeno came back wearing a green apron, letting a soft giggle escape his lips.

“Potholes sure are a pain.” The guy even giggled with that breathtaking eyesmile of his. It was _Surreal._ “Are you alright, though?” He asked suddenly, officially more concerned about his health than his older brother ever had been.

“Yes, nothing serious thankfully. But, I think I can’t say the same for my bike.” Jaemin felt himself simpering as he spotted Jeno looking downwards at his vehicle.

“May I?”

“Yes, of course.”

Then the mechanic was inspecting it closely, almost hovering over the wheel. His smile had been replaced by a serious frown and Jaemin thought he looked hot like that, with his sharp jaw clenched and dark eyelashes curled upwards as he stared down. 

Jeno was a beautiful man, that was as clear as glass.

Lost in those features, he acknowledged the other glancing at him, with wonder, realizing he had been openly staring for an interesting amount of time. That was why Jaemin forced himself to look away and let the mechanic work, as any human being who wasn’t a creep would.

This time, looking around, he realized something he hadn’t before.

All the hangers of the shop were shifted to a side, the clothes carefully lined up by colour on their right under a dim light, and when he turned around to see the ‘open’ sign turned to him on the door, it could only mean that the ‘closed’ was facing the streets.

“Were you _literally_ just waiting for me?”

“Huh?” Jeno, now kneeling down on the floor lifted his head fast with a confused face, letting out a quiet hum as he did so. He looked exactly like a curious puppy, which felt surreal on so many levels. “Um, yes.”

“Why?” Jaemin didn’t want to be impolite at all but his mouth was faster than his capacity to stop. He just asked.

“Jaehyun’s actually a lot in here these days, so he has become like a friend to me? Helping his brother is the least I can do.” He stated as a matter of fact. Then added, a little playfully. “Plus, I was asked to do it by Johnny, my boss, it’s not as if I can say no. Anyway, he knows I don’t mind staying for a bit longer at all. So, yeah.” Jeno continued as he left the room again, coming back with a toolbox. “Want me to tell you the bad news first?”

Jaemin just nodded because Jeno’s genuine smile was way too nice for him to be able to lace brain cells, even less formulate words.

“Well, the inner tube of your back wheel is punctured, not too much though because it still has some air inside. See?” He squished the tire with calloused fingers. “Yet, it must have been a hell of a hit because the type of tire your bike has is the best of the best in the market right now.” Jeno made a brief pause as if thinking about something, then asked. “Are you sure you are alright?”

“Yeeeees, I am.” Jaemin heard his own voice filled with amusement as a daring smile took over his face. “I’m actually strong. I can take a lot more than what you think.”

That was Na Jaemin for y’all. One second a wordless mess, the other a shameless flirt. No in between.

“I see.” Even though Jeno was turned to the side, Jaemin didn’t miss the glimpse of lightly flushed cheeks. “Well, that hit made your wheel a little wobbly, but it doesn’t look like it has been damaged. I could solve this in ten minutes at most? Five if I do it really fast.”

Upon hearing the other’s voiced train of thought followed by a large yawn, Jaemin shook his head as if his life depended on it.

“No! It’s okay, I can walk for today and come back tomorrow. My place isn’t far at all.” 

Keeping in mind the way he literally whined to his brother about not wanting to walk home, Jaemin thought he could lie, but just for the sake of meeting a greek god again. Try to sue him, but ten minutes at most didn’t sound like enough of an appreciation time to him.

“What? No, please. It’s just ten minutes. Jaehyun bought this bike like two weeks ago, it shouldn’t be hard to-”

“I’m not in a rush.” He interrupted Jeno's complaints rather sharply. “And you should’ve already closed the shop. You must be tired.” Jaemin knew he was freaking evil, using the mechanic’s evident exhaustion as a weak excuse for his selfish desires. But if you had actually seen Jeno, you would have done the same.

The mechanic stood still for a second, thinking, then yawned again.

“How old are you?” He asked with glassy eyes, the second his yawn was over.

The question was sudden, a little quirky by how the conversation was going but Jaemin wasn’t complaining. Not when the mechanic’s voice was soft, yet deep and pleasing.

“I’m turning twenty in August”

“Oh, look at that. I turned twenty in April” Jeno voiced, as he started separating specific tools from his box. “And what’s your favourite song?”

Jaemin couldn’t help but laugh, because he knew the move Jeno was trying to pull on him. It was a classic Donghyuck tactic: Sweet talk, silent distraction. The trick was evident. Basically, you lured your victim with some chit-chat in order to make them forget about the current argument, then moved onwards with your thing when they got distracted enough. Clever, but not enough for a Na Jaemin. That would barely work on a Jisung...depending on the day it could work on a Renjun. 

All the same, he didn’t have an actual reason to break down Jeno’s game, so he just stood silent for some seconds in retaliation, then replied. “Why would you ask that?”

“I don’t know. I guess personal stuff talks about one’s self more than words. When I’m down I like listening to EXO's ‘Promise’. But when I feel like going out on a long ride I listen to Maroon 5.” 

It would be a lie if Jaemin said he wasn’t enticed by that random information. Not specifically about him liking that music but about him openly talking about himself, as if they had known each other for years. As if the unexplainable confidence Jaemin felt around him was actually mutual.

“My favourite colour is white.” He chose as his answer, sitting down on the ground beside the mechanic, who was disassembling his wheel with a tool Jaemin wasn’t familiar with.

“I love how this conversation doesn’t make any sense.” Jeno’s voice was filled with tranquility, somehow, and he was passing it on to him, too. “This is the puncture, see?” The mechanic extended one circular tube made of rubber, which Jaemin presumed was the thing that contained the air. 

In case you haven’t noticed yet, there was a reason as to why bikes weren't for him. He literally had minus zero knowledge about them or their mechanics, neither was he that confident while riding one. Also, biking made you sweaty, a thing he wasn’t a fan of. 

“I actually do not.” Jaemin tried to, but couldn’t. Leaning forward to his side and into the image of that dark softened circular rubber, his shoulder came to touch Jeno’s in no time. It felt odd, but good too. The mechanic didn’t seem to notice or care, so Jaemin just stood there, inspecting. “Oh, wait. There it is.” He voiced when he spotted the tiniest little baby hole in it. It was microscopical. 

In a celebratory motion, he turned his head to a side fast, leaving him just a few inches apart from Jeno’s face. _Fuck._

From up close, Jaemin spotted a tiny mole on his left eye, which made his breathing hitched as they stared at each other in silence. He was really tempted, then, to glance at the mechanic´s lips to see the shape of his mouth from up close. But thankfully enough, his hormones couldn’t make everything awkward between them because Jeno broke that fleeting moment by a sudden motion, turning to his other side.

“Yup.” He nodded as grabbed something else from the toolbox. “This is how you do it, see?” He asked as he spread a sticky substance over his fingers, then over the surface of the tube on his hands. “Now what’s left to do is to seal this patch and add pressure in it, so it’s perfectly glued.” Jeno explained, not even looking at him once as he put on a circular patch over the glued zone, consequently squishing it.

“Wow” Jaemin said, not because of the tube’s apparent fixing procedure, but the thick vein that stood out from Jeno’s flexed arm as he put pressure in the inner tube.

“Yeah, right! It’s really easy.” The mechanic was completely oblivious as to why he wowed in the first place, which Jaemin was grateful for. He really needed to control his hormones, for god’s sake. “Wait, sorry. I know you may not care about this. I-I just, uhm, Jaehyun is always curious about this stuff so I thought you might also wanna know.”

It was in that exact second Jaemin decided that Jeno was the cutest person he had ever met. Yes, cuter than Jisung, his little buddy from ‘ _Desserts studies’_ , his bakery class.

“It's alright. I actually find it real fun.” 

At that, Jeno held his ground, his features inscrutable for some seconds until he smiled in that way again, showing Jaemin the sparkles of his eyes glowing through the little slit of his lids. It still felt surreal how someone could be so nice, yet look so _violently_ handsome. 

Jaemin really felt like staying for a bit longer, but Jeno was already on the move and in a minute, his bike was ready and he had to say goodbye sooner than what he would’ve liked.

  
  


Later, when he was trying to find the keys of his dorm, the only thing in Jaemin’s mind was the way Jeno quietly reassembled his wheel, subsequently telling him it was all good and that if he ever had any inconvenience he could always bring his bike back to the workshop. The guy even told him to take care on his way back home, since it was already dark. 

Needless to say, Jaemin melted on the inside at those sweet words. 

As he was on his way up, he didn’t pick up on the little cheerful sound the elevator made to let him know he had reached his floor. The only thing he could hear on loop was Jeno’s ‘See you later’, as if actually meaning _to meet him later_ , somewhere else.

“Where HAVE YOU BEEN?” Donghyuck mid-yelled, half drama queen, half hypnotised by the game he was playing when Jaemin opened the door of their shared dorm.

“Hi Jaemin. Do you know what’s this?” It was Renjun speaking now, shaking his phone with one hand. “This is a cell phone. You can use it to pick up your friend’s fucking calls.” 

“Oh, babies.” Jaemin got rid of his trainers, leaving them by the corner of the doorway and entered their home, not even fazed by the harshness in his friend’s voices. 

Checking his phone, he realized he had a few missed calls from both Donghyuck and Renjun and one text that wrote ‘Are you heading home yet? Bring snacks.’ Then another ‘Srsly bring snacks there’s no food here.’

“Did you bring the snacks?” Donghyuck’s expression was enlightened partially by the movement on the screen, which made the shades lightly staining his face make funny motions.

“He. did. not.” Renjun chided, eyeing him from his place on the stool, dropping his phone on the counter.

“And here I was thinking my roomies were concerned about me getting home late.” Jaemin rolled his eyes as he got to the bathroom to wash his hands. “Today I fell on a pothole and almost died! But the only thing you care about is snacks. Can’t believe this.” He said as he came back to the living room. 

“So you didn’t bring the snacks.'' Donghyuck glared at him, parting his eyes from the screen for the very first time. “We really need to get food right about now. I’m starving” He whined, pausing the game.

“Okay, let me find my jacket.” Renjun stood up and walked towards his bedroom. “Coming, Minnie?”

“Yes, but did anyone listen about me almost dying or…?” 

“Oh, yeah. What was that about?” Renjun wondered when he was back. “A pothole, you mentioned?”

“HOW CAN YOU CARE THIS LITTLE ABOUT MY HEALTH!!!! I’m your life-long best friend and roommie!!!!!” 

“Because you _die-”_ Donghyuck air quoted as he stood up. “-several times per day. Anyhow, what happened? You okay?”

“I got distracted, biked over a pothole and got my wheel punctured. I’m fine.” Jaemin decided to explain it without further fuss because he couldn’t really argue with Donghyuck’s logic. He really might have misused the concept of dying in his speech over the course of time more often than not. Yet, he wasn’t agreeing with Donghyuck aloud. Never in life.

“Man, you got that bike yesterday.” Renjun spoke with bewilderment as he closed their dorm’s door, not without first glancing at the bike in question supported by Jaemin’s bedroom wall. “It seems to be fine, though.” 

“Yeah because I went to a mechanic Jaehyun recommended.” He told his friends as they walked into the elevator. “When I called him, some dude called Johnny picked up.”

“What?!” Donghyuck was scandalized by the news, which was predictable, but Renjun seemed to be paying close attention too, which wasn’t.

“I was as puzzled as you. You know how no one really gets close enough to him to pick up his phone just like that. I think he might be getting serious with this Johnny dude.” 

“Great for him, I guess.” Renjun voiced, as they got out of their building and into the chilly streets.

~

Jaemin had always been loyal to his inner Leo self that nourished his ego, his confidence and personality, in a certain way. That was why he didn’t voice out his utter satisfaction over his bicycle to the world; He had complained way too much in the past to do that.

It was the second week since Jaehyun delivered his inaccurate purchase to him and Jaemin cycled anywhere. Literally. For instance, he had cycled to the other end of the city on a saturday morning to get his appointment with his dermatologist and he reached the place faster than he had ever before. It was definitely a great idea, since he used to take one bus and one train. By bike time flew by differently, which was so damn pleasing if you asked him.

He also cycled to Jaehyun’s dorm one day and actually met Johnny by chance there. Such a great guy; Tall, blonde, gorgeous and a comedian, really. Jaemin loved him as a brother-in-law already, even if Jaehyun categorically denied liking him at all. Whatever. 

Jaemin happened to love his bicycle, he loved going for a bike and the freedom that came with it, because when you bike you rely on no one but yourself and your vehicle. Well, the weather was an important factor, too, but not decisive since he ended up cycling under the rain one day and found it more pleasing than bothersome, strikingly.

Another striking thing, too, was how certain mechanic seemed to reside rent-free on his mind without giving him a break. He resided in the puppies Jaemin fawned over in the park and in the cyclists he passed by in the road, whose arms were bare to the daily light and Jaemin’s lingering eyes.

It was ridiculous but it was currently happening again as he was on his way to class. 

He stopped at a traffic light and heard a high-pitched laugh, loud and vibrating with mirth. Without even realizing, his eyes landed on the girl who laughed, whose eyes were barely open, forming two half moon crescents just like Jeno’s eyes did exactly eight days ago.

Then, the lights turned green and he resumed his cycle mindlessly, still trying to find a plausible reason to come back, to meet him, hear him laugh and see him smile. And as he kept on daydreaming about calloused fingers and puppy dog eyes, the bus before him stopped and he, you see, didn’t.

He was actually moving real slow so he didn’t injure himself, neither did the driver of the bus realize someone hit his vehicle, apparently, as they resumed their way as if nothing happened. Though, after having seen the whole scene some people on the streets gave him concerned looks. A girl came to his rescue and offered help, which Jaemin gently declined with a furious red face.

After calming down, when he started cycling again to get away from everyone’s gazes, he realized his left brake didn’t work properly as it took way too much more pressure than necessary to make the bike stop. 

How _bad,_ he thought. He‘d have to go visit Johnny’s bike shop again after class, since he certainly couldn’t go around with a partly broken brake. 

_No, no imposible._

~

“Good evening!” Greeted a lithe man with dark hair over the counter. “What can I do for you today?”

“Hi! I think I need to fix my bike’s brake. I left it outside.” Jaemin motioned with his hands backwards, trying to mask his evident disappointment at the lack of a certain mechanic in sight. 

“Oh. Yes, bring it inside so we can take a look at it.” The guy disappeared through the door by the counter as he said so, still beaming like gently.

In no time, Jaemin was standing by himself in the center of the room with his bike. Then the boy came out again, wearing a black apron.

“So, what happened?”

“I crashed...against a bus?”

“WHAT?!”

The loud yell that came from the other room right after he spoke was rather unexpected, since Jaemin had assumed there was no one but the beaming boy with him. Yet, out of nowhere, as if proving him wrong, as if heaven had actually opened its gates just to do so, to let Jaemin’s eyes take everything in, he spotted Jeno on the doorway by the counter, with great worry on his eyes and almost _half body covered with grease._ What the bloody fucking hell.

“Are you alright?” Asked the mechanic, pointing at him with a metallic tool.

“Jeno.” Jaemin, as previously mentioned before, was really weak for handsome men. But life was testing him to an extreme point here, rubbing the image of a very _greasy handsome man_ –that also happened to be super nice– all over his face. Life was messing with his will to live right now. “I’m fine, gosh, why are you so worried?” He responded with a smirk, which was a great contrast to how breathless he sounded.

“People don’t usually come in here and say they had an accident. Normally they just buy a cap.” Jeno voiced with wide motions of his hands and a smile on his face.

Jaemin could only snicker at that, cheekily, and no one should've been able to see him flush if he discretely covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he did so, which was definitely what he was trying to do.

“Um.” Oh, wow. The other shop assistant was still standing there. Jaemin had totally forgotten about him. “Do you guys know each other?”

A type of silence settled between them, then, one in which everyone –surrounding Jaemin’s bike– shared curious looks. Then Jeno was snorting at his coworker’s stunned face and Jaemin had to repress a giggle, too, because the other boy looked funny with his dark round eyes open wide. 

“He’s Jaehyun’s brother. He came some days ago for a repair.” The mechanic explained with a beam directed at Jaemin’s about-to-faint sorry ass. Jeno’s beam was majestic, angelical, beautiful, show stopping, spectacular, never seen before.

“OHHHHHH. Are you Jaemin? When Jae gets drunk he talks tons about you! Nice to finally meet you! I’m Lee Mark.” The little boy extended a hand over the bike on the floor towards him and even though Jaemin was hella confused, he was algo delighted over Mark’s cuteness. How was every bike mechanic or assistant of the shop this incredibly charming? 

“Nice to meet you too! I’m Na Jaemin.” He took Mark’s hand and shook it with ease. “I’m guessing you know my brother because he comes in here a lot apparently?”

“Yes, and also because Johnny’s my brother. Jae partially lives in our dorm these days, haha.” 

Jaemin decided right then and there that Mark was a good person. Why? Because he felt it in his bones and there wasn’t a thing Na Jaemin did or believed without listening to his instincts first.

“Oh, I met Johnny some days ago. He’s really nice!” He responded quietly, since he didn’t really know what else to say.

Luckily, awkwardness stood at least eight feet away from their chat as Jeno seemed to be highly interested in repairing his bike. Like, really interested. 

“So, what exactly happened and what do we need to fix? Can I check it out?” 

Jeno’s willingness was something else. Seriously, he was so ready to help, Jaemin suddenly remembered how much he loved predisposed men. (Hint: too much.)

“I was, um, distracted and hit a bus, but I didn’t even fall off the bike because I was going slow, so, I’m all good. My left brake doesn’t seem to be that good, though.”

As he spoke, Jeno knelt on the floor again, replaying his motions of their previous meeting while Mark strolled back to the counter and disappeared into the other room. 

“What could possibly have gotten you so distracted you missed a whole bus?” Jeno’s face portrayed confusion to the same extent it portrayed amusement, and it would have lured Jaemin to no end, if only he wasn’t panicking over the question he was being asked. 

He couldn’t go all ‘I was thinking of ways to see you again, that’s why I involuntarily missed the bus right before me’. That would be too embarrassing.

“Uhm. I was...thinking. You know.” Right at that precise moment, he wanted earth to swallow him whole. Permanently, if possible. “Thinking about work. Yeah, I was thinking about work.” He finished off lamely, as Jeno stared at him from his spot on the floor.

“Oh? What do you do?” The question was so bright, filled with interest and curiosity and Jaemin could feel an excited twist inside his belly. That was where his inner Leo resided, always awake and thirsty for attention.

“I design web pages as a part time job. Well, I do it freelance but it still takes some time.” Jaemin commented, much more confident now since 1) Jeno seemed to believe the made out explanation, and 2) there was nothing he knew better on earth than the goddamn HTML. He could talk about it for years, really. “These days I can’t squeeze my brain enough to get the idea I’m looking for, so I’m kinda struggling with it.” 

And that was actually true, he had really been lacking inspiration the past few days. It wasn’t an entire lie, just...a mild lie. 

“Wow, that’s quite interesting. Bet your webpages are beautiful!”

The mechanic’s soft praise nourished Jaemin’s inner Leo to a point he suddenly felt confident enough to make a fool of himself. All the same, he didn’t care.

“You bet correctly, Jen.” He murmured and Jeno glanced at him as he stood up, with his precious bream and some new greasy stains on his face.

“Well, about your bike. The brake definitely won’t work if you don’t have brake pads.” 

“Which are…?” Jaemin asked, now staring at his bike.

If someone close to him could see him now; oh boy would they be laughing their asses off, mostly because Jaemin didn’t give a flying fuck about engines. He was more like a man of ‘ _if I can pay to get it done, then I will. No explanations required’._ Yet, there he was. Asking for explanations.

“These ones! See? These little ones help your wheel stop.” Jeno kept on saying as he pressed the brake lever’s front wheel. As he did so, the little thingies surrounding the rim of the wheel effectively closed around it. “If you don’t have one, then you have just half a brake.”

“Oh, I see.” Jeno’s proximity was making his mind warm and chaotic and he made a mental note to calm his hormones down once again. He had met Jeno a week ago, he shouldn’t be hyped over a likely-to-be-straight man. Straight or already in a relationship. 

“Overall, your baby’s fine. Your brakes are not broken! There are a few things in need of adjustment and a missing piece, but it’s no big deal at all. I can get it done by tomorrow evening if you want to!” Jeno’s enthusiasm made Jaemin even weaker than his handsomeness. “I would do it right now, since we have the spare parts and all but I need to get another job done.” He motioned at his white tank top covered with grease stains to prove his point.

After having seen that top, having caught a glimpse of Jeno’s greek god body, Jaemin found his cue to check everything out. (Serious mistake).

On his waist rested a loaded tool belt that hung painfully low and looked ridiculously heavy. Jaemin had seen the exact same one innumerable times on his father’s waist as he played plumber while trying to unclog their bathroom sink when he was a child, yet, never had he thought it could look that good on any human being. 

Differently from his tee, where he had individual dark stains, his fingers were completely grey and a little shiny, looking sticky and Jaemin shouldn’t have found that hot at all. Still, there he wasm gulping down so hard he feared Jeno hearing him.

Suddenly, an earsplitting noise brought them both back from whatever place they had drifted to and Mark was on the doorway with an interesting stain on his neat hoodie that hadn’t been there before.

“So, um. The shelving might’ve fallen down.”

“What? Really? How?” Jeno stood up in a rush and sprinted over the doorway.

“I kinda ran into it?” Mark sighed, beyond perplexion as if he didn’t even have the energy to get gloomy. Jaemin then noticed how the shop assistant looked really sleep deprived with prominent bags under his eyes and swollen eyelids. Earlier he probably didn’t notice because Mark had been beaming like crazy. Now, however, not so much. 

“Hey. It’s okay! I ran into it from time to time, too. It’s literally placed in the worst spot.” Jeno reassured him mid-hugging the other over his shoulder.

“I know but now we have to wait for Johnny to help us lift it and he’ll get mad. Today he’s really, really busy. Plus, we’ll leave super late and I had to study and-”

“I could help.” Jaemin rarely found his will to speak within strangers. Yet, there was something about the way their conversation felt so casual and he didn't feel out of place at all. He felt weirdly welcomed in the bike shop. “If you want.”

“You would?” Mark’s eyes were filled with little sparkling stars and Jaemin nodded, letting a giggle out this time. 

That was how he ended up inside the workshop, surrounded by bikes and tools and the smell of rubber mixed with oil, which reminded him of his childhood and biking through the mountains with Jaehyun.

He ended up befriending both Mark and Jeno in between conversations and casual banters and they even exchanged phone numbers. Jeno had smiled so much at him, thanking him a lot for helping them out.

As he now sauntered back home in the middle of the dark, he couldn't help but smile at the night sky over the thought of meeting Jeno the following day. He really couldn't wait.

Ah, when did he get so corny? Donghyuck and Renjun would probably laugh at him if they knew. 

~

“So…” Donghyuck was sitting by the table in front of him, chewing cereals with a dangerous smirk on his face. Fuck. It was too early for that. “Yesterday you got home late again.” 

Jaemin knew there was no way out. “Yep.” He said nonetheless, without sparing him a look. 

“So, what’s so striking about that bike shop? The bikes that you have _always_ liked so much?” Donghyuck queried, reclined backwards on his chair with underlying mockery. 

“Yeah, the bikes are nice, actually.” 

“So you don’t mind me joining you today after class?” Jaemin lifted his head to look at him, fast and fearful. Then Donghyuck’s smirk grew wider, if that was even possible and he simply accepted defeat. Sometimes you need to know when a battle is lost, most importantly if that battle is against Lee Donghyuck. “I wanna know the place too! Maybe even buy a bike. You seem really happy with it.”

“Sure.” He kept on reading notes, playing dumb as best as he could until his roommate left to class, leaving him alone on their living room to be flustered at the prospect of his best friend embarrassing him in front of Jeno. 

Guess there were things bound to happen, at some point. 

  
  


The second the doorbell of the store resounded in the air, Jeno appeared on the doorway by the counter with his puppy cute little beam.

“Hi!” The mechanic approached the counter looking at him and nodded towards Donghyuck later, acknowledging him. “How you doing? Your bike’s almost ready! Give me a sec.” He said in a go, only to disappear again by the workshop. 

On his side, Jaemin could hear Donghyuck humming, playfully, and it was a real doom how his best friend’s sixth sense seemed to work perfectly whenever his love life was the unvoiced topic of conversation. Thankfully, they could only share a glance as Jeno came back into the room, with his bike this time.

“It’s all good now.” Jeno delivered it to him and Jaemin noted how his eyes were little crescents even though he wasn’t smiling that much. “I added the pad that was missing and adjusted the cables. Your wheel was not sitting centered in the frame but I bet that was a consequence of you hitting the bus.” Jeno finished speaking sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his head with his heart-stopping beam.

After testing the brakes and letting out an approving hum, Jaemin could only mumble a quiet “Thanks”, getting his wallet out of his pocket. Maybe it wasn’t just the fact that Donghyuck was ready to roast him to death at anytime now, but also the fact that Jeno was so fucking cute what was making him shy. He guessed he couldn’t help.

“Oh, no, no. It’s still on the house.” 

“What?” He questioned as Donghyuck snorted and he felt his stupid cheeks going stupidly warm because of that. “Why?”

“Because you helped us with the shelving yesterday. You know how Mark is-” Jeno’s soft explanations were muffled by the doorbell and the instant loud gasp that came with it.

Suddenly, four people were silent in the room, staring at each other with a mix of surprise and alarm.

“YOU.” It was Mark on the shop’s entrance, looking as mad as a stray dog about to get involved in a fight. Jaemin was clueless as to why the boy looked unbridled with anger on the doorway, pointing at Donghyuck with an accusatory finger. He had previously thought Mark was incapable of looking like that.

“MARK LEE.” Donghyuck yelled back, as equally mad.

Seriously, what the hell. Jaemin had barely seen his best friend this belligerent towards anyone other than his own mom.

“What the hell are you doing _here_ ?” Mark’s tone was suddenly cold and dark, filled with hatred, seemingly. Jaemin got goosebumps and he wasn’t even on the receiving end of it. “On _my_ bike shop.” Stray dog marking territory, noted.

“Oh, _honey_. If only I have known, trust me, I wouldn’t be here at all.” Donghyuck was seething, which was so confusing. His best friend didn’t usually feel so much he couldn’t mask what was happening to him. Usually, Donghyuck was collected and always ahead of the situation.

With just a glance to his side, he spotted Jeno’s bewildered face, in utter shock.

Great, then he wasn’t missing anything extremely obvious.

“I’m gonna wait for you outside, Minnie.” Donghyuck whispered to him as he made his way outside, not without first bumping into Mark’s shoulder, consequently slamming the door shut.

After a brief pause, silence was settled in between them again, extremely different from the one they shared before. This silence felt literally _filled,_ as if the oxygen in the room suddenly became solid and no one could really breath.

Mark stood on his spot for some seconds, then let out a prolonged sigh.

“I’m sorry you had to watch that.” The boy mumbled, a little despondent. An interesting contrast with how furious he had been seconds before. “We had an actual argument in class today. I can’t believe the audacity he has to come here.” 

With that, the silence was back and neither Jaemin, nor Jeno seemed to know what the hell to say to turn the oxygen gaseous again. That was it until Mark realized that himself.

“Oh my god, sorry guys. I’ll just cool down on the workshop.” He apologised as he fanned his flushed cheeks with his hands.

“Yeah, Mark. Go chill, bro! No problem.” Jeno found his voice again and tried to reassure his coworker as he walked towards the workshop in silence.

Then, when he was completely out of sight, Jeno and Jaemin’s eyes met.

“What the hell was even that?” He couldn’t help but whisper. 

“I don’t have a single clue. Apparently, they are classmates?” Jeno responded, close to him and with conspiratory air.

“Yeah, I got that too. But I’ve never seen Hyuckie like that. He’s my roommate, devil of a best friend and childhood friend. It's weird to see him so murderous.” 

“Mark’s also my childhood friend.” Jeno voiced, grinning. “And yes, I mean he gets angry sometimes but not like that. I think he’s stressed over a class. I bet it’s the one he shares with your friend.” 

“I guess we will have to investigate later.” Jaemin felt himself smiling widely at the situation, and soon enough, Jeno was mirroring his expression too.

Then, from one second to the other, Jeno broke down into laughter. It was melodious, sweet and light hearted, probably a sound coming straight out of heaven, Jaemin firmly upheld as he joined him.

“Oh, I put some lights here, so you are safe when you cycle in the dark.” Jeno told him when they had quieted down, motioning at his bike. “You can take them out if you don’t want them, they are removable.” 

“What?” Jaemin felt his lips trembling a little, which was a peculiar way to react over a handsome man concerned about his well-being. _Watch and learn, Jaehyun hyung._

“Sorry if I crossed a line there.” The mechanic relented. And for what? For giving him a present. Was this man perfect or was it just Jaemin’s imagination?

“No no, it was a great ‘what’, Jeno. The greatest.” Jaemin told him the second he recovered from the previous surprise. “Thank you.”

“It's nothing.” Jeno’s smile turned shy and it was wild how his body and face screamed sturdy but his actions and beam were almost soft. “Plus, you really should have ones if you use it every day. Johnny told us he was happy you were giving great use to that bike.”

“Oh, really?” Jaemin didn’t know why he got so excited by the mere idea of Jeno talking about him with someone else, it was probably something regarding the aforementioned inner fierce Leo self he had.

“Yup.” Jeno walked towards the counter and bent over it, gazing over the window. “Hey, someone’s looking for you.”

Immediately, Jaemin’s head turned to the side, spotting half of Donghyuck's head peeking through the glass. It reminisced a child, hiding behind his mother’s leg in a pure act of shyness, with the only difference that it was Donghyuck whom they were talking about. He was neither shy, nor pure. Childish, sometimes.

“I guess I have to go.” Jaemin facepalm resounded heavily in the quiet room and the only sound that followed was the little echo of Jeno’s snicker. Donghyuck would pay with blood for driving him away from that sound. 

“Okay. Your friend seems like a nice guy, by the way.” Jeno commented as he kept on looking at the flying head by the window, that dissapeared with one last glare directed at Jaemin, one that yelled _‘Na fucking Jaemin you have ten seconds to get out of there’._ Yes, Jaemin could actually hear that look.

“Let’s just say he’s a cool idiot.” He finished as he started walking towards the door, bike by his side, loyal and repaired. “Thank you for everything, Jeno. See you around.” 

“See you soon, Jaemin.”

~

“He’s sleeping with the _enemy_ , Junnie.” Donghyuck was far beyond out of breath.

“You’ve betrayed this household.” Renjun pointed at him with a metal spoon. “Now’s your time to die. Farewell, pal.” He informed, as he flickered the spoon in the air.

“Oh my god, stop this.” Jaemin couldn’t believe it. “I’m preparing dinner! This ramyun should be my free pass into forgiveness.”

Exactly one silent block away from the store, Donghyuck had erupted into a loud and dramatic cry of betrayal. (“You share beds with the enemy.” “What the hell are you saying? I don’t share bed with the enemy!” “Yes, you’re. Or worse, you will, Minnie. You will. I’ve seen it in your eyes.”)

Anyway, Jaemin still didn't get why ‘ _the enemy’_ was The Enemy. Nor Mark, nor Jeno looked like the enemy; more like completely the opposite. 

“Jaemin. Do you even know why LEE MARK is the enemy?” Donghyuck asked, caressing his temples as if suffering by the mere action of pronouncing the guy’s name. “Do you know how much of a nightmare he is?” 

“NO! That’s literally what I’ve been asking you the whole way back home.” Jaemin gasped.

“Mark’s actually a sweetheart.” Renjun commented, snickering as Donghyuck faked fainting over the table. “I shared one class with him last semester. Really capable guy, really nice too.” 

“Take that back, you piece of scum.” Donghuck rushed near Renjun and poked his cheeks. “This guy is _the guy_ , guys. The guy who is my only competition to win that scholarship I told you about? The scholarship that I really need to win.” 

Retaining information was crucial for moments like this, Jaemin thought as he gasped, yet again. Donghyuck’s Mark was his Mark, too. How come he never put the pieces together? 

Right, Jeno’s existence was a thing.

“You mean...that little beaming man is the freaking evil man who wants to steal your dreams away from you?” Jaemin couldn’t believe it. Actually, he didn’t want to because he knew Donghyuck’s casual exaggerations for the dramatics.

“Very much so.” Donghyuck flopped down on the chair again, this time much more hopeless, suddenly. “This guy’s so incredible. You don’t even know. It’s annoying.” 

Self consciousness and Lee Donghyuck was the worst possible match ever in life, so that last line really rubbed Jaemin the wrong way.

“And what the hell are you doing right now? Moping around like a kid? Go sit your ass on that chair and study to get that scholarship while Nana takes care of you.” He scolded as he resumed his cooking, knowing exactly how many things Donghyuck could achieve when he was fueled by the concept of a great meal ahead.

“DEAL! And, Just so you know. You’re forgiven for trying to sleep with the enemy, only because he’s really hot. Nice one, Jaem.” Donghyuck smiled cheekily as he rushed towards his bedroom and closed the door the fastest he could.

Jaemin was left silent, trying to repress a smile over that. Donghyuck knew him so damn well. What freaking little devil.

“So, who’s this hot man, huh?” 

Speaking of the devil, Renjun had turned his full attention to him, his smirk as wide as Donghyuck’s would be if he was still there.

“I’m not trying to do anything.” Jaemin denied as he checked out the ramyun. “But his name is Jeno.”

~

There were many situations that Renjun could take. Of all types; distressing, incoherent and troublesome. Bring them on. 

Situations like these, however, where what he feared the most was right before him, _literally before him,_ well, that was another story. He hated it when he could do nothing but experience those situations. Just let them happen.

“Uhm.” Renjun could feel how Lucas’ exhale above him made some strands of his hair scatter around. “I love your art style, it’s fresh.”

Below them, Xiaojun sighed sluggishly, supported by the window of the bus, apparently drifting off to sleep. How jealous Renjun was that he found a seat and he didn’t; That would’ve made things easier for him right now. 

Getting out of class during rush hours was like hitting your little finger on your foot with a piece of furniture when you were mad. Simply a pain in the ass and the mind. And the foot, no redundancy intended.

Even so, life couldn’t make it just difficult. Life had to be in freaking hardcore mode at every stage of it, like right now, where he found himself pressed up against the model of his painting class in a crowded bus. A model whom he had portrayed naked less than an hour ago. 

“Thanks, I guess.” He responded, staring at the floor as his life depended on it, because it probably did.

It wasn’t that he disliked the model, he just hadn’t held a safe amount of conversations for that particular situation to feel completely comfortable, at least for him. He could feel Lucas’ collar bones right under his chin, which was definitely weird.

“It’s no problem. I actually like watching you paint me. I like the way your eyes darken when you’re focused on me.” 

Xiaojun actually snorted after hearing that with his eyes closed, still supported by the window and Renjun felt his whole body alight. He mentally cursed the freece jacket he chose to wear that day because a sudden suffocation crept up his throat with those words. Suffocation and agitation and everything that represented death and its variants. 

With his very external attack –He ended up squeaking against Lucas’ chest like a teenager– his cheeks felt hot as Lucas giggled over it. Fuck. Then the bus stopped at a light and he found his moment to try fucking get his shit together, staring at the window to scape his poor life choices of relying on public transportation.

Yet, what he saw was beyond imagination, transcended the barriers of reality and stupidity, really, because his roommate was completely, utterly, unbelieveably _stupid_.

“What the _fuck._ ” Renjun heard himself exhale darkly, which made Lucas gasp in front of him. Even Xiaojun opened one curious eye to see that was happening, as the bus resumed movement.

“I, um, sorry! Maybe I went too far with that one and…” Lucas stuttered, which was an unexpected twist of the events.

Lucas could get flustered too. Wasn’t that really interesting?

“What?” Renjun found his will to lift his head and stare at the model only because he was astonished. Jaemin was so freaking stupid. ”No, no. That was...hot.” He regretted saying that word the very second it escaped his mouth, but his mind was somewhere else. Somewhere near Jaemin’s stupidity. What the fuck. “I think I just saw my roommate willingly bike into a tree.” 

~

“Why are you here?” Jaemin asked for the seventh time.

“I told you I have my reasons.” Donghyuck responded, biting at his nails as they walked towards the bike shop.

“Just promise you won’t yell. It was all awkward when you left so mad last time.” He really wished that wouldn’t happen again. Not when he was determined to ask Jeno out that day. 

Well, he wasn’t, he knew he wouldn’t, but it was nice to imagine he would. 

“I won’t.” Donghyuck’s knowing look was enough for Jaemin to stop himself from prying into the matter. Again, a battle against Donghyuck wasn’t one always worth fighting.

When the familiar doorbell rang, Jeno appeared on the counter with a radiant smile. However, the moment he spotted the broken wheel, his smile faltered a little.

“Hi guys! What can I help you with?” He gushed as Mark got out of the workshop too.

He first recognized Jaemin and directed a casual beam, until his eyes landed across Donghyuck on his side.

“Oh. You’re here.” His tone of voice was cold, but it lacked the hatred he spat last time.

“Yeah, Mark. I’m here. Do you know why?” His best friend said as he detached his bag from his shoulder and opened it. Then, he got out an old hoodie, which he _threw_ to Mark’s face. “Next time watch out where you leave your stuff, _babe._ ”

He was shocked again, but for different reasons. Donghyuck was mildly arguing, mildly flirting, apparently. At least that was his _‘I-am-interested-in-you’_ tone of voice.

“I’m still winning, Hyuck.” Mark spoke up loud and clear when Donghyuck turned around to leave. Then, smirking and a little cocky, added. “You know that.”

Oh boy. Jeno actually gasped low at that, as Donghyuck turned again, seething just like last time. 

Well, Jaemin’s mind might have imagined the flirting, constantly dragging the gayness™ into the scene, because there was no sign of it at all now.

“You _won’t._ Mark.” He breathed with greeted teeth as he made his way out, nodding with his head towards the door.

Then, something really weird happened. Mark stood on his spot, staring at nothing in particular, as if recapping about something and in a second he was walking behind Donghyuck, out of the store. 

“Should we...like, stop them? I can only imagine they are throwing fists right now.” Jaemin voiced when they were out of sight, because he wouldn’t find it surprising if that was really happening.

“I don’t think Mark would throw fists.” Jeno said in thought. “So I would let them fix their problems like adults.”

“You’re right.” He nodded, not really placing Donghyuck as a real adult who would choose words over fists. Actually, that wasn’t what adults did most of the time.“Um, you’ll want to kill me but I broke it again.” 

“How did you manage to do it this time? Were you struggling with work again?” Jeno had a light frown on his face full of concern as he inspected the broken bike. Needless to say, Jaemin felt the need to combust and die over that genuine worry.

“Thankfully, no! I could finish the webpage I’ve been struggling with in the end.” Jaemin tittered, aware of how brilliant and wide his smile was. 

“Oh, that’s great news, then. I’ve been wondering how everything was going for you! Anyway, what happened with your bike? Were you wearing a helmet?”

“Nope, I wasn’t.” It would ruin his hairstyle. “And I don’t know, I’m kinda a mess these days and not really experienced while cycling.”

“Oh god! How are you even alive?” Jeno covered his gasp with a veiny, smooth-looking hand. “Why didn’t you wear one?”

Well he couldn’t tell Jeno he hadn’t bought a helmet because he wasn’t willing to ruin his hairstyle, since he was conscious about how stupid that was.

“I just never thought about buying one, but I think I will.” _Jaemin was a fucking lier. Seriously, someone sue him right now._

When the mechanic was done checking the bike, he proceeded to explain, detail by detail, what had happened to his bike. You couldn’t blame Jaemin for not really listening because it was mostly Jeno’s fault for looking like that.

“...I will text you.” Jaemin caught that last sentence and he instantly turned his full attention into the conversation again because even though they had exchanged numbers, they hadn’t ever texted. Not even once.

“Wha-what?”

“I was telling you that I don’t know how long it will take me to fix it because I need to open the bottom bracket, which is this one-” Jeno pointed at a thing near the chain, not really minding having to explain it a second time. “-Depending on its condition I will have to change the whole thing or just some parts. Anyhow, I still don’t know for sure when it’s gonna be ready and I don’t want to make you come here only to come back empty handed.”

If only Jeno knew how little did he care about going home empty handed.

“Oh. Oh, right. Definitely! You- you can text me anytime.” He offered, a little much more excited than he probably should have, yet Jeno didn’t seem to mind.

After that Jaemin found himself walking out of the shop faster than what he’d have liked, as per usual, and he turned backwards to give Jeno one last look before he left. He spotted the guy waving with one hand repeatedly, like a dog wagging his tail would. 

Jaemin really didn’t want to leave, but he did.

It was only two blocks later that he remembered Donghyuck had actually come with him to the shop. With that realization came another one too: said boy was nowhere near sight from outside the shop and its surroundings and neither was Mark, which was slightly concerning. He walked back to the place, calling his best friend’s name loud, until the very boy he was looking for showed up, walking fast and forward, coming from the alley by the side of the shop.

“Don’t scare me like that, Hyuck! I almost left without you.” Jaemin whined, a little reprimanding. “What were you doing there?” 

“Oh, nothing. Just checking the place out. Sorry, Jaem. Let’s go!” Donghyuck spoke and held his hand in a go, dragging them both on their track back home. 

It wasn’t something out of the ordinary since Donghyuck always walked fast and liked to hold hands. However, one thing Jaemin didn’t catch sight of was the mop of dark hair and naive eyes behind Donghyuck’s rushing figure, nor how Donghyuck seemed to be blushing and _really_ looking forward to getting the hell out of that alley fast.

~

There was no way out for Jaemin now, not when Renjun was sitting on the kitchen counter with arms crossed and furrowed eyebrows. 

Farewell, friends. He did good in life, he will be remembered.

“Do you want to talk about the events of Thursday’s afternoon?” Renjun asked, casually.  
He hadn’t been expecting to get caught. Not when he planned it carefully, choosing the perfect square to damage his bike a little. It was located ten blocks away from their dorm, it had a significant amount of trees to hide his stupidity and it wasn’t so crowded. Perfect. Still, Renjun had to be a freaking undercover spy who caught him from no other place than a bus. Brilliant.

What he did was certainly stupid. And he wasn’t proud of it, but he really needed a reason to meet Jeno again. Sue him. 

One little positive grain of sand in the disastrous chain of events that was Jaemin’s life was the fact that Donghyuck wasn’t currently home. After leaving the bike in the bike shop with him and arguing with Mark again, he left for the weekend to his brother’s house. Even though his bedroom was the only one with a bathroom all to himself –meaning that it was the most comfortable – from time to time he left under the poor excuse of ‘I need to be in a pacific environment while I study’. In reality, Taeil just loved his younger brother so much he couldn’t help but give him everything he needed or wanted, which was usually food or cuddles.

“This is seriously stupid. You need to stop.” Renjun continued, a little concerned now.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jaemin responded, leaving his coat on a chair and directing his steps towards the bathroom.

“You broke your bike twice this week.” His best friend followed him and stood on the doorway, scolding him. “The _new_ one.”

“There’re just a significant amount of potholes I can’t avoid on my way to class.”

”I literally saw you willingly bike into a tree, Jaemin. A motherfucking tree.” 

“How many times do I need to say that was a mistake?!”

Jaemin had tried to convince him otherwise, he really did, but Renjun trusted his own eyes more than Jaemin’s lame lies, which was pretty fair if you think about it. 

“Oh boy. Just drop by and say hi, like a regular person would. Now you have an injured elbow and a broken wheel.” 

Well, that was a great idea really, only that he couldn’t do it. Not when Jeno was Jeno and he could barely function in his presence. What should he say? ‘Hi, I dropped by to check on you because I miss you and I don’t even know you that much so it’s weird that I want to meet you this bad’. Yeah, that was a big no.

“I wish I could, Junnie. But you haven’t seen Jeno. He’s the perfect mix of hot and cute, and he’s just so nice. Junnie, he is the nicest dude out there...he gave me lights for my bike so I don’t die in the shadows. Lights!! He even cared about my job, which doesn’t sound so interesting. I mean HTML!!!!”

“Wow, that’s impressive. Caring about HTML.” Renjun humored him with a roll of his eyes as they walked towards the kitchen. “Anyway, at least make sure your health isn’t at risk. Health care is expensive and your mother still pays for it.”

He smiled widely at that. After so many years of friendship he knew what Renjun meant. The subtitles would be something akin to ‘Please take care of yourself. Don’t die.’ 

“Of course. My elbow’s actually better and Jeno said he would text me.” He voiced, fast and flustered over the thought. “Anyway, wanna order ice-cream and send a picture to Donghyuck for leaving us this weekend?” 

“You know I do.” Renjun smiled for the first time since he entered the house, which felt so welcoming. Jaemin really missed Renjun laughing and smiling frequently, as much as they used to do when school was over and they spent the afternoon in each other’s houses.

“Great then. I’ll start preparing dinner.” He muttered as he strolled into the kitchen.

Later when they were eating ice-cream and watching their favourite drama, they sent the picture to Donghyuck but he didn’t reply, let alone opened the message. Guess he was really studying a lot.

To sum up the night, Jaemin laid on his bed rather content but lowkey wishing for the weekend to be over already. It was insane and he had never thought he would be expecting the weekend to come to an end ever in life but there he was, thinking about Jeno’s eyesmile, not caring at all about his eternal pile of essays due to the following Wednesday. 

Life didn’t make much sense sometimes.

~

The message arrived four days later, in the morning. He was just woken up (since his classes for the day had been canceled), while Donghyuck and Renjun prepared breakfast for the three of them.

**Lee Jeno**

Good morning, Jaem. How are you? 7:56

I wanted to tell you your bike will be ready today 7:56

I didn’t have to replace a lot of parts, luckily 7:56

So it won’t be really expensive!! 7:57

Anyway, my shift starts at 2pm. You can pass by from that time 7:57

up to 7pm, I'll be there 7:58

Then he saw the three little dots on the chat moving again, meaning that Jeno was still writing. After some dubious minutes, the last message arrived.

Have a nice day! 8:05

Jaemin could only smile and keep on smiling and actually yelp over the last message, really, really melting on the inside over it. He might have been falling in love with a man he saw like five times, he noticed, as he frantically typed back.

"Hyuck! Bring the camera! Jaemin’s dumb smile can only mean he received his love message from Mr. Mechanic the dirty prince.” He heard Renjun screaming from somewhere over their dorm as Donghyuck barged into his bedroom.

~

It was the first time he came so early to the workshop. Eagerness had gotten the best of him, there was nothing to do now. 

Since he didn’t have class, nor any urgent web page to design, he found himself walking towards the bike shop in the early afternoon, at half past two.

The whole vision was different, from the streets to the lightning and the regular people walking by; it was all different and Jaemin found himself mesmerized by every new piece of information, like the little children with their parents walking down the streets or the sunrays crashing against the pavement, warm and bright.

That was why when the doorbell rang, he wasn’t much surprised to spot Johnny on the counter. He had to be in the store at some time of the day. Yet, he was a little surprised to spot his brother, too, drinking an iced americano on a stool as he giggled over something the owner of the store was saying. 

“Oh! Hi Jaemin.” Johnny was fast to interrupt himself and greet Jaemin with a charming smile, as Jaehyun gasped on his side, a little thrown off guard over his presence. 

“Minnie? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same, hyung.” Jaemin threw the ball back with smugness. After so many years, he could sense when Jaehyun had been caught red-handed. “Hi Johnny! Is Jeno available?”

“For you? He certainly will be.” Johnny responded as a matter of fact, which made Jaemin snort and god forbid, blush. On his part, Jaehyun mirrored Jaemin’s previous cocky expression and it was a great counterattack. Jaemin gave him that. “He actually left for a bit, but I think he should be here in 5 minutes, or less. Wanna wait for him with us?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.” Jaemin responded as he took a seat by his brother’s side.

Ever since Jaehyun moved to his own dorm, they didn’t get to hang out that much since they had their schedules inverted. When he took classes, Jaehyun worked and vice versa. So he really missed seeing him casually and by chance.

“I’m getting a little tired of waiting here.” Suddenly murmured a voice approaching from the workshop. Then, by the frame, a short man appeared, with silky dark hair and catlike eyes. “When are we going home?” The man asked as he bent a little over the counter suggestively, in a way Jaemin could definitely place. That guy was as gay as the sky was light blue. (Actually, no, he learnt in class that the sky wasn’t blue in reality, but you got the meaning. The guy was gay.) “Oh, hi! I’m Ten.” He introduced himself after having spotted Jaemin on his stool.

“Hi. It’s Jaemin.” 

“Uhh, you must be Jaehyunnie’s brother. Nice to meet you!” Ten provided a sweet smile as he casually made himself comfortable on the smooth surface of Jaehyun’s thighs, hooking one arm around his neck as he did so. Seconds later Ten extended his free hand to shake Jaemin’s with energy, as if that was the most natural thing on earth. _Greeting him while sitting on his brother’s lap._

“Nice to meet you too.” Jaemin could only stutter back surprised, his own giggles blending in the air with Johnny’s, after having seen how attacked Jaehyun got over that action. 

And while looking at Jaehyun’s evident flush and physical awkwardness, Jaemin wondered who the hell were these people that flustered the big confident Jung Jaehyun just like that. Where did they come from? Most importantly, where have they been Jaehyun’s whole self-repressed teenagehood?

In less than a minute, their laughs were interrupted by the doorbell. After a brief look he saw Jeno on the doorway with narrowed eyes. His confusion was so damn cute Jaemin couldn’t keep his gaze away from him.

“There he is, Ten, baby. Stop being so whiny and pack your things. We’re going home.” Johnny mumbled as he tied his long blonde hair in a ponytail. “You too, babe.” He directed those words at Jaehyun, which made something inside of Jaemin crumble into a puddle of joy.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t imagined Johnny and Jaehyun being a couple before, but that tone of voice, that trust, it sure implied an actual thing happening and it really excited Jaemin. He knew how reluctant his brother had been over getting into a relationship after his first and only difficult break up. And he also knew Jaehyun wasn’t entirely comfortable with his sexuality (at least some months).

Jaemin could only be happy about him looking happy and _in love_. Plus, Ten’s factor was really unexpected but that whole situation had been simply so unlike Jaehyun, he already loved Ten and how confident he seemed to be.

Hastily, Johnny gave a still clueless Jeno the keys of the shop and found his cue to leave, Ten and Jaehyun literally breathing down his neck as they said goodbye.

“I’m so confused right now.” Jeno uttered, only to turn to him with a smile when the trio was gone. “Anyway, hi! Your bike’s almost ready. Wanna come to the workshop?”

“Uh, hi. Yes, of course.” He responded, feeling his legs like jelly as he stood up. 

They had never been completely alone in the workshop since the very first time they met. Jaemin knew that and the neutral silence of the building was a constant reminder of it.

The moment they stepped foot into the other room, Jeno was already on the floor making the final adjustments to the bike. He seemed to have no problem working in the dirt, which was really hot in Jaemin’s humble opinion, but he also looked rather tense, his face a little too serious for the situation.

“That’s it. Ready.” After a while, the mechanic stood up with a little greasy stain on his hand. “I had to change the inner tube and some spokes of the wheel this time, which wasn’t very serious. Thankfully the bottom bracket was working just fine.”

“Ah, that’s such great news. I hate the bus now.” He uttered, trying to sound chill. (Spoiler: Jaemin wasn’t chill. Somehow, he was more nervous by the minutes.)

“Yeah, it happens.” Jeno snickered with a knowing look. “When I first started biking some years ago I was suddenly unable to take the train or the bus again. Now I don’t actually remember what was like to wait for the bus.”

“I think I’ll end up like you, then.” Jaemin joked, as he gently nudged Jeno in the arm. “Working in a bike shop as a bike enthusiast covered with grease.”

“Uhm, I have something for you.” Jeno commented, then, out of nowhere with his gaze strictly glued to the floor.

“What? Really?” 

“Yeah. But- but close your eyes, please.” The mechanic’s voice was so quiet, it startled Jaemin for a second there. It was unsure and beautiful, and oh Jaemin was really nervous now. 

“Okay.” He responded, confiding in Jeno, closing his eyes without further questions. There was a tingling feeling on his fingertips, on his chest, on his throat and a certain worry mixed with hyper awareness. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion and Jaemin was living for it.

He heard some steps going back and forth once, careful and hesitant. After some seconds in silence, something light was placed over his head. Delicately, with care, so slow Jaemin started questioning if he really was feeling something. At the same time, he felt a brush of rough fingers over his cheeks, lingering for less than a second and then there were some straps laced across the sides of his face, adjusting to his skin.

Afterwards, silence. He could actually feel Jeno’s eyes on him, piercing through his skin and making him feel with certainty that something was about to happen.

Yet seconds passed, and silence increased. So he didn’t have any other choice than to open his eyes in pure silence, curiosity taking the best of him. He spotted Jeno close to him, focused, mouth slightly open, seemingly freezed in space until he heard the delicate click of a buckle near his chin.

“I thought you should wear it, since you almost die every week.” Jeno whispered, as equally quiet as before but it was more intimate the way he looked him in the eye now. “Hope you like it.” 

Jaemin was quiet, still processing what happened, processing that silence that had settled, those fingers that caressed his cheeks, and now that shy expression before him, almost childlike with tinted cheeks and furrowed brows.

It would certainly be embarrassing to bid farewell to the word right then and there, as flustered as Jaehyun had been before, almost on the brink of a melt down. But that could always happen, Jaemin beared in mind. 

“Thanks.” He murmured, tapping at his helmet while giving him the sweetest smile he could muster, wondering if that was how heaven felt like. Like 200 grams of plastic hugging tightly at the top of his head. 

When he was ready to say something, anything, the doorbell rang _again_ and an unknown voice started yelling. 

“JENO-AH BABY. ARE YOU HERE?” 

Suddenly, Jaemin had a foreboding sensation as Jeno turned around fast, beaming towards the voice. Beaming exactly like he beamed to him every time they met. Beaming gently, with joy. _With love._

“I’m here.” Jeno informed as he started walking towards the other room. However, a slim man appeared on the doorway first, mirroring Jeno’s smile as he approached him with open arms. 

The man was wearing a lavish coat and a pair black skinny jeans that made Jaemin want to sob and the second he got close to Jeno they were already all over each other, hugging tightly as the luxurious man _kissed_ the mechanic’s cheek. 

“I missed you so much, my baby Jeno!” The guy expressed, content, as he kept on babying Jeno, pinching his cheeks and hugging him uncontrollably. The mechanic, on his part, hugged him back with care, Jaemin didn’t fail to notice. _Couldn’t_ fail to notice. 

In hindsight, it shouldn’t have been so disappointing. Jaemin really should’ve known. Really should have been expecting it, because It was only normal Jeno had a boyfriend. He was nice and handsome and an angel. Of course he wasn’t flirting with him, he was just being nice.

“I missed you, too.” Jeno got quiet, then, as he took a look at him. Yeah Jaemin knew he was probably just bothering them. “This is Jaemin.” He said, parting from their hug and placing his hand on Jaemin’s shoulder.

“Nice to meet you.” answered the man, giving him a look from bottom to top, analyzing him. “I’m Kim Doyoung.” 

“Nice to meet you too.” Jaemin tried to muster a smile, inevitably failing. He really needed to stop building up expectations, most importantly when his feelings ended up on the way. “I think I forgot something. I’ll just...let you catch up. I need to go.” He stuttered before he could even stop himself, really feeling the need to be somewhere else, somewhere far away from Doyoung’s perfect face.

“Oh yeah, sure! Are you okay though, Jaem?” The nickname felt like a dagger against his frozen heart. Not even the mechanic’s concerned voice as he grabbed his bike and walked him towards the door was enough to make him feel better. 

Because of course Jeno wasn’t single.

“Me? Uh. Yeah. Perfect here.” He shamelessly lied when they were on the door, just some steps away from that hell of a situation. “Um. I-I really gotta go. Bye.” He finished as he started walking away, fast and without looking back once. 

Some blocks later he finally came to a halt in the middle of a street, breathing heavily and in a haze; still wearing a helmet that felt so much heavier now. 

So much heavier.

~

“Was that the Jaemin you won’t shut up about?” Doyoung asked after having seen Jaemin sprint out of the store, leaving them both a little bit startled. “The one you wanted to ask out today?”

“The one.” Jeno responded, letting a little bit of his worry come out with his words. “That was weird.”

“You bet. He looked frantic. What he forgot must be really serious.”

Jeno wasn’t so sure about that, for some reason.

“Yeah, probably.” He uttered nonetheless, trying to keep himself from worrying too much. Maybe he really had forgotten something important. No problem. “Anyway, are you gonna tell me about your wedding or what?”

“Thought you would never ask, Jeno-ah! Come sit!” Douyoung dragged him into the chairs, accepting the change of topic easily, light hearted. 

It wasn’t as if he didn’t enjoy wedding tales; he really did, most importantly when it was his hyung’s wedding, but he enjoyed them more when he wasn’t busy dwelling on a certain customer’s dismissal. 

Because for a second, he thought Jaemin could like him back. But there had always been room for wrong assumptions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god sorry!!! I swear I'm halfway the second part!!! Thanks for reading or commenting, it means a lot!!! See you soon <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG HI!!!!! I'm terribly sorry if someone's been waiting for this part! My life got stuck in hardcore mode and I couldn't do anything but live through it. What's worse, the story turned somewhat angsty and *inhales deeply* romantic as a consequence of this, so I had to give it a rest and bring back some puns to lighten it.
> 
> I really hope y'all will like it! Pls enjoy~

~

Jaemin didn’t come back to the bike shop the following week, neither the one that followed nor the next one.

He just didn’t come back _yet,_ Jeno liked to tell himself, reassuringly, over and over and low-key concerned when in reality Jaemin not coming to the bike shop probably meant he simply didn’t have another accident.

It should have been great news –and it was– but something felt off at the same time. Something about the way the boy had sprinted out of the shop didn’t feel alright and it left Jeno hanging in the air, waiting for something to happen. What was worse: he left him with a mouth full of restrained questions he couldn't get out in time. ‘ _Wanna go out for a ride with me tomorrow?’_ _‘Would you like to go on a date someday?’._ It should’ve been that simple. 

Yet, Jeno had managed to make it hard somehow and every time the doorbell rang he was mercilessly reminded of that. He always approached the reception with a beam, chest swelling with hope and he always felt himself deflate at the sight of a random customer waiting by the counter, or Jaehyun looking for Johnny or even Donghyuck, looking for an argument with Mark, but never Jaemin. Never. 

He wondered why he spent like five days fixing the Designer’s bike, buying a helmet for him and gathering up the guts to ask him out –when he certainly could have got it all done in just one day–, only to chicken out the very second he opened his mouth to do so. 

Maybe making his decisions based on time wasn’t that clever of him to begin with, because even though he could wait five, eight or eighty days to fix the bike, Jaemin would still be breathtaking, mischievous and gorgeous in a way Jeno had only seen in models or actors before. Ethereal. He could wait, but the fact that he hadn’t dared to ask Jaemin out that day was still the bitter truth. 

And the more the doorbell kept on ringing day by day, the more Jeno missed glancing upwards and meeting Jaemin there, with punctured wheels and sweet smiles.

The actual sound of the doorbell brought him back to present, so he exited the workshop without a smile. It probably wasn’t Jaemin, anyway.

“Good afternoon, Jeno!” Donghyuck greeted a little frantically but still smiling like he usually did.

“Hi, Hyuck.” He greeted back, with an actual smile this time. 

As previously mentioned before, Donghyuck started visiting the bike shop when Jaemin stopped. So, at least four times a week Donghyuck would sashay his way inside the room with no other purpose than simply bother Mark. They would always end up barking like angry dogs, trying to bite at each other’s heads with sarcastic remarks and shady comments as if their life depended on it. 

Those days Jeno sheltered himself in the workshop and didn’t come out until he heard the loud bang of the front door. From that point on there were two possible come ups when he approached the reception again. Sometimes Donghyuck was gone and Mark was seething there, fists turned white with creased eyebrows. Some other times, however, the room was empty and Jeno simply knew Mark had taken Donghyuck to the alley beside the bike shop to do whatever the hell they needed to do. Since Jeno wasn’t one to pry into matters that weren’t of his concerns, he never asked for an explanation and he thought he was okay without that knowledge whatsoever.

Occasionally, when Mark wasn’t there, Donghyuck would strike up friendly conversations with him, long enough to share some laughs. In that way, it didn’t take long for Jeno to start considering Donghyuck as a friend somewhat, as they would joke around until Mark showed up with dangerous dark clouds over his head and a strong will to fight Donghyuck with him.

To some extent, it made Jeno wonder why they hated each other so much they needed to argue all the time. Actually, he wasn’t even sure it was hatred what was going on in there; it was more like a weird mix of every single meaning of the word _tension_. 

“Is Mark here?” Donghyuck’s voice lacked the usual poison when addressing his coworker, which was weird.

“Yeah, he is straightening a wheel in the yard. Want me to call him? Or would you rather just go look for him yourself?” Jeno responded, as he took notice of the way Donghyuck’s fingers tapped fastly over the counter, impatiently.

“Can I, like, just enter the place and go to the yard?” 

“Yes, of course! The door is open, just walk across the workshop and you’ll see him.” He commented as he started leading the way anyway, just to be polite. 

Mark and Donghyuck were super weird, Jeno wasn’t going to lie. He didn’t get them. 

“Okay.” The other followed him. 

Donghyuck’s quietness was gone, then, the second he spotted Mark in the yard trying to hammer a wheel with nothing but pure desperation on his face. “Oh my god.” He voiced in between giggles, until he was full on laughing. 

And as Jeno started going back to his place by the counter because he didn’t want to interrupt them, he didn’t miss the way Donghyuck’s eyes lingered over Mark with adoration for a second, glowing, or how Mark’s cheeks were suddenly pinkish when he spotted Donghyuck staring and making fun of him. 

“What do you want, dumbass?” Mark asked sheepishly with an amused hue behind his tone, hammer in hand and half his body leaning toward its weight. 

Out of the blue, Jeno felt the _need_ to know about Jaemin. Anything. Maybe his life actually depended on it. Maybe not. Maybe the way Donghyuck looked at Mark was a harsh reminder of just how long it had been since he saw Jaemin and how much he missed him, even though he shouldn’t have felt that way at all.

That was why he grabbed his cellphone when he got back to the silent reception, determined, as the echo of Donghyuck’s devilish laugh and Mark’s little whines slowly faded in the distance.

~

Watching dramas had always been a therapeutic activity for Jaemin. Judge him all you want but there was nothing like a good romantic story with its twists and its happenings for him. Renjun and Donghyuck usually made fun of him for enjoying it to the fullest –with ugly cries and joyful laughter–, but more often than not Jaemin spotted them discreetly wiping tears away in the background (mostly Renjun) or laughing in a way that it was clear otherwise they would be crying (mostly Donghyuck). 

It was currently happening now, with the only difference that he was home alone, thankfully. A drama playing on TV and his whole body fell apart on the sofa, open window and no lights. Just like he loved watching TV.

The low vibration of his phone somewhere over the desk could be heard, twice, then thrice, but he paid no mind to it. It was so far away he felt the distance increasing the more he considered checking up on the notification. It probably wasn’t important, anyway.

Hours later and who knows how many episodes after another vibration resounded, alongside a loud sudden thud, which made him fully open his sleepy eyes. 

As some of his brain cells were laced, he realized that sound could only mean one thing and that was all it took for Jaemin to stand up in a rush: The prospect of his phone dramatically dying from a fall that wasn’t even his fault, but the person who last texted. 

Those fuckers, he bet it was Donghyuck. He could feel it with his Nana senses.

Darting towards the desk he took his phone and unlocked it, touching the screen and tapping on the device while humming reassuringly at it. 

Luckily enough everything seemed to be working properly, so he went through his inbox to address the person to blame. (Yeah, he was still blaming this on someone because his baby could’ve died).

And to literally no one’s surprise, the last message he received was one from Donghyuck. 

**Cute chocoball**

Yo, dude 21:37

The girl at the supermarket gave me wine!!!! 21:37

Just because of my cuteness!! 21:37

I’ll be home in half an hour 21:37

Get our fancy housecoats ready Jaemin. 21:37 

Tonight, we’re living the life as young wealthy men with an actual future ahead 21:38

Jaemin’s laugh echoed in the darkness as he moved to switch on the light. Donghyuck could be endearing, even when he was being low-key pompous at the same time. Maybe that was what made him endearing, who knows.

Now with lights on, he went through his messages leisurely, checking his social media and notifications before moving to be an actual functional creature of the household. At least that was the plan, until his heart came to a halt, painfully and dramatically as it sounds.

It was great that he was young, he thought, just twenty years old and with a whole life ahead because if it would’ve been any other way, he just didn’t know. Maybe he would have had to call an ambulance out of how hard he felt the impact of a single, naive message resting peacefully under Donghyuck’s.

**Lee Jeno**

Hi Jaemin! How are you doing? 18:13

~

Even though he was stepping out of the bus, he would have rather just let himself fall, inevitably crashing against the sidewalk without grace over how tired he felt. 

‘Sophomore year would get better’ they said. 

Renjun begged to differ. In capital letters if only he had the energy. At this time of the day when the dim moonlight was brighter than his future, well, everything he did or said was in tiny font. 

Donghyuck actually loved Exhausted Renjun because he let him get away with everything he wanted, very much like parents did when they got surpassed by their energetic children. Active Renjun would join the ruckus, sometimes win an argument or take part in it until he got bored. He could take anything. Currently, the only thing Exhausted Renjun could take was food and if he was in the mood, a hug. Nothing more than that. 

There is so much you can know about someone you talk to...someone you meet once a week, maybe. The rest of it –the real deal– you acquire it with time. Sharing stuff. That’s why living with his two childhood best friends at the moment was an advantage in itself. He didn’t really have to explain anything to them because they already knew.

They had been living together for a year and counting, but they had also experienced their whole life together. That was a long time to get to know each other. From kindergarten, to high school, to moving to the city centre by themselves and nothing more.

Every Thursday Jaemin and Donghyuck prepared the greatest dinner they could muster just for him. ‘Actions speak louder than words’ that's what people said. And since they were all pretty clumsy with words, they liked that motto enough to make it a part of their lifestyle. Why tell it when you can show it? Words were for emotional wimps, that was what life had taught him so far.

That was how they inaugurated the Special Thursday dinner tradition. A special caring day for Renjun’s worst day of the week. Donghyuck’s caring day was on wednesdays (Video games competition night, of course), and Jaemin’s was on Mondays (Drama nights). 

“Welcome home, you piece of trash.” Donghyuck cheerfully screamed from the kitchen when he entered their dorm. His best friend was wearing his garnet housecoat –meaning that there was a whole event going on– while holding a bottle of wine in hand. _Guess that was the whole event going on._ ”I’m a little behind schedule with dinner since Jaemin died.” Donghyuck informed with a drastic roll of his eyes. ”But I think we’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.” 

“Is that wine, Hyuckie?” He asked because if he wasn’t being delirious, the brand embellishing the label of the bottle was really expensive. Like, more-than-half-his-salary expensive. “And it’s no problem, what can I help with?”

There was this understandment going on between them ever since they moved together, where they tried to help each other even if they were exhausted. Cooperation was key to get things done and they certainly learnt it the hard way, unluckily. That may have been the most difficult thing they had to endure the past year: the tricks to healthy cohabitation. Even so, that was also what brought them together to a point they considered each other family. 

“Set the table and put on your housecoat when you can. Tonight we are wealthy men!” Donghyuck sing-sanged as he poured what seemed to be soy sauce over a pan. “The girl at the supermarket gave it to me!” He continued with an impish smile, showing off the wine.

Renjun just snickered sleepily at that as he turned to the side, aiming to get to the bathroom and wash his hands before changing into his dark blue housecoat. However, no sooner had he made the smallest movement, than he spotted a black gigantic stain of cloth on the sofa.

With more attention, he realized that thing was indeed his best friend Na Jaemin, laying under his black housecoat with his eyes lost in the open, cell phone in hand and drama™ written all over his face.

“Why are you dead right now, Jaem?” He spoke casually, voice tinted with a bit of sarcasm, knowing well how the upcoming answer could be incredibly serious or incredibly stupid. Renjun was inclined to think it was the latter for some reason.

“I was reminded over text-” Jaemin murmured, sluggishly. “-about my eternal tendency to loneliness and unrequited love.”

Renjun snorted.

~

Jaemin could feel his cheeks alight and he didn’t even reach the bike shop yet. What was worse, he was also trembling, which was as incoherent as it sounded.

The day before, within those sporadic texts he shared with Jeno, Jaemin had realised –A.K.A explicitly been told by the mechanic himself– that the last day he had been there he ran away without paying for the bike repair. Not very polite on his part, that was for sure.

Obviously Jeno told him it was alright, that he was a friend of the house and he didn’t really have to pay. But maybe a part of Jaemin still wanted to meet him and that was precisely why he decided to go pay anyhow. 

Plus, he had already made it all up in his mind: he would go inside, greet Jeno, pay, suffer over his beauty in silence and in the blink of the eye he would be back home, sheltered indoors and out of existence for some days, feeling the devastation of living and dying unloved and alone. 

Sounded like a plan to him.

So in the early afternoon when he made the decision to go, he made sure to look spotless. To look stunning, because his inner Leo demanded it and otherwise he wouldn't be brave enough to approach Jeno. Also, the fact that he was a mess on the inside was a key point to understanding why he needed to look gorgeous on the outside. It felt a little reassuring, at least.

He chose to wear his high waisted jeans that fitted him just right, accentuating his waist and legs in a way that felt oddly demure. Whenever he wore them he felt confident and however much he liked to believe all his confidence came strictly out of him, he would be lying if he denied feeling a little more powerful in them. Alongside the jeans he went for a tight, thin [black turtleneck](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eg8QAq_XcAkILrf?format=jpg&name=small) that Donghyuck gave him on his last birthday. It was cute but not precisely designed for riding bikes. Whatever.

When he saw the bike shop nearby it was already late afternoon, the sun hiding behind a bunch of trees in the horizon. He got off the bike and stared at his reflection in a display window of a grocery store, gazing at how his outfit blended with a pile of perfectly organised cans of peas on the inside, mentally telling himself that he could do it. 

He just needed to pay for Jeno’s last repair. It was nothing. Then, he’d go straight forward home and probably bed without even removing his makeup. Easy peasy.

With that mindset he walked a few more steps, left his bike over a wall of the bike shop and made his way inside.

“Hi! What can I- ” Jeno’s blank stare was suddenly replaced by a smile that made the somersaults in Jaemin’s stomach go wilder. Fuck. “-Jaemin!!” 

Guess it was gonna be a little hard, if Jeno kept on gazing at him with freaking sparkles coming out of his eyes like it was christmas. Seriously, life was so unfair. And Jaemin was addressing the universe there, or whatever entity was in charge of the pleasing occurrences that flooded his life. 

“Hello!” He smiled nonetheless, not only overwhelmed by life’s injustice but the sight, too.

Jeno was wearing a black cycling outfit that fitted him like a second skin, making Jaemin’s oxygen deprived lungs instantly crumble into pieces. The guy even had those fingerless gloves, which weren’t any less violent than the whole outfit itself. In fact, Jaemin found himself googling at the way that dark cloth contrasted with Jeno’s pale, languid fingers.

“How are you doing? Is there something to repair?” Jeno asked cheerfully and Jaemin had never heard him sound so genuinely excited. If he tried to, maybe he could even hear his tail wiggling behind him. 

“Oh, no, Jen.” The nickname slipped out of his mouth like it was nothing and before he could even panic, Jeno had already embraced it in that way, naturally and light-heartedly. “I came here to pay for what I owe.” 

“What? Nooooooo. I told you not to!” The other crossed his arms over his chest and Jaemin _tried,_ he really tried not to look, but to no avail. Jeno was flexing his arms right before him, could you really blame him? “You’re not paying.”

“I certainly am, Jeno.” He remarked as his brain chanted ‘You’re stronger than this, Na jaemin.’ with a reprimanding voice that sounded suspiciously similar to Donghyuck. Maybe he was really losing his clear judgement with so many feelings swirling inside of him. 

Upon hearing his serious tone and not his usual overly sweet one, Jeno accepted the money he had extended over the counter with a nod as he opened the cashier. Then, he provided a shy grin and he gave him a receipt. 

“There you go.” 

“Thank you.” 

A deadbeat of silence ensued, then. 

They stood still for a second, looking at one another without saying anything, just hearing the faint sound of birds chirping somewhere in the distance. The second Jaemin opened his mouth to bid farewell Jeno spoke up, his eyes sparkling again with veiled expectation.

“You know, last time you’ve been here I remember you said you were inexperienced while cycling.” Jaemin was fast to nod at that, mainly because it was true. Even though he didn’t fall into potholes anymore he still brushed against branches on the way and occasionally against cars. Yeah, no joke. “Well, I’ve been wondering if you would be up for a ride with me someday? I could give you advice? About cycling! And- and you could just...bike with me. Mark stopped joining me this semester because of studies and I got lonely.” Jeno ranted and it was the cutest thing how he looked at anywhere but him.

‘Jeno is dating someone else, control yourself Na Jaemin.’ His own brain scolded again, angry at the million sexual innuendos his other side of the brain was providing. ‘But he’s _lonely_.’

“Oh, I see. So you need company?” He hummed suggestively and you could certainly address which part of the brain won the argument. Don’t judge him, he was trying not to panic. “I could help you with that. But I seriously need to learn, as I can be pretty messy.” _Control yourself, Nana._ “And...I’m not really trained-” He then glanced at the mechanic’s body, just for emphasis. “-like you are.”

If Jaemin had had some decency at some point of his life, maybe he would have gotten at least embarrassed about that comment. However, that wasn’t the case. He seriously needed to control his hormones.

“I’m- I’m not.” Jeno’s voice faltered a bit. “We can start slow, if you want to. It’s no problem.” A second later, with those sparkles on his eyes again, he added “So, I’m assuming that’s a yes?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jaemin started making his way towards the door with a cheeky grin. Things took one unexpected twist in the end and he was actually happy about it. “Just text me when.” 

“Actually,-” He heard Jeno mumble from over the counter quietly, but when he turned around nothing about the mechanic’s expression said quiet, nor shy. Jeno was quite beaming as he asked “-What about now? Would you be up for going out right now?” 

~

“So what you’re telling me is that he literally left Mark alone in the bike shop, only to spend the evening with you?” Donghyuck repeated it as if it was the most amusing thing he had ever heard in his whole life, which it probably wasn’t. Correction: it definitely wasn’t. 

“Pretty much so. He said Mark has been leaving during his shift quite a lot- “ As he spoke, Jaemin could pinpoint the second Donghyuck’s smirk faded into a blank stare and somehow he wasn’t that surprised to spot the sudden change of expression. “-So it was only fair he left half an hour earlier. Mark didn’t seem to mind, though.”

“Well, it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that Mark’s stupid. Yeah, anyway, coming back to Jeno. I can’t believe you finally dated him, most importantly in an impromptu hangout. Like, what the hell did you do to the strict Na Jaemin who wouldn’t get out of his way to buy ice-cream for his starving best friends, right?” Donghyuck mindlessly bit at the end of his pencil as spoke, taking a jab at him for a change.

“First and foremost, it wasn’t a date. We just cycled and chatted like regular people do with their mechanic, and two, you can’t keep holding onto that stupid time I didn’t buy ice-cream. It was freezing! You loved the hot chocolate I bought you later! JUNNIE, BE ON MY SIDE!” Jaemin opted by yelling, using his Renjun card to try to win this war after having seen the aforementioned boy’s door open, which meant he didn’t mind being disturbed. 

“No, Minnie, you suck!” Renjun yelled back from over his bedroom while snickering and Jaemin rubbed at his temples slowly at that. Renjun was such a traitor. 

“So now you’re telling me that wasn’t a date?” Donghyuck’s fist hit the table. Jaemin just nodded completely unfazed by the motion. “In which culture? Not in ours, Minnie. That was definitely a date." 

“I agree.” Renjun voiced without screaming this time, as he approached the living room. “You don’t just go around living in the moment with whoever crosses your path.” He argued as he got into the table where Donghyuck ‘studied’ and Jaemin spent his time grumbling over a stupid code that wasn’t working. (It probably wasn’t working because he kept on chattering with Donghyuck, who wasn’t really studying but doodling over his notes). “You don’t go around buying dinner for simple friends.”

“I literally do that with you two every week.” Jaemin lifted his head with a dramatic sigh, spotting Renjun opening his sketchbook beside Donghyuck.

“But we’re not simple friends. We’re blood friends, remember?” It was Donghyuck speaking now, bringing back a memory from their childhood he would rather not address.

"Yeah, after that we weren’t the same.” Renjun winced and Jaemin could only agree with the sentiment. They really did change after the day that should not be named.

“Anyway. Point is, I think he’s dating someone else. So, it doesn’t matter if we all collectively feel like it was a date. It simply wasn’t.”

“What?” Donghyuk completely gave up on his doodles. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean like, last time I dropped by the bike shop a ridiculously handsome man came in screaming for Jeno and consequently kissed his cheeks as if his life depended on it.” Jaemin told them, decreasing in energy as he went on. “The guy even smelt expensive, guys. How was that possible?” 

“Did you even ask him, Minnie? Like, casually, of course. But just to confirm?” Renjun asked him in thought and it was clear he didn’t get the situation. A beautiful man kissed Jeno’s cheek with so much _love_ he actually exuded it, throwing every human being in the room to a side. What was left to ask there?

“My brother doesn't go around kissing my cheeks, even though I’d love him to. Neither do you, my closest friends.” Jaemin paused, then added with alarm. “No one really kisses me, actually. Aside from my mom.” 

Wow. That was a sudden sorrowful realization. 

“But Jaehyun has a serious problem with his masculinity. Or he used to. And we see you literally everyday. We’re no longer able to show love to each other, you know that.” Donghyuck stated, as if Jaemin and him hadn’t been cuddling on the sofa little less than an hour ago. “Anyway, I’m not judging you. I know it can...get hard. To speak to someone you like.”

A dense silence followed after that. Suddenly, Donghyuck had gotten quiet as he stared at his notes, not even faking he read them. He was simply spacing out. Whatever the hell was going on it was very unlike him, Jaemin thought, because Donghyuck didn’t just speak up his mind and heart. He was always more complicated than that. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Jaemin cooed nonetheless, bringing out his Nana-will-take-care-of-you voice just in case. 

“There’s nothing to talk about.” His best friend replied as he skilfully switched topics, meaning that he really didn’t wanna talk. “Not only Minnie got obsessed with a hot man, but now you too, Junnie?” Donghyuck giggled with wickedness as he pointed at the naked man in Renjun’s sketchbook, staring lewdly towards the viewer. 

“Hell yeah, Lucas is literally an adonis.” Renjun was shameless, switching pages to show his best drawings as if they weren’t pretty detailed nudes of a man they spotted frequently on campus. “How couldn’t I?” 

“Stop it!!” Jaemin pleadead because, how would he ever look that guy in the eye again? Not possible in this reality. Yet, both Donghyuck and him couldn't stop themselves from appreciating the sketches, since they were Renjun’s sketches. They were mesmerizing.

It was unexplainable how their best friend could keep on improving so much day by day. It was not only impressive but worth the appreciation and It made Jaemin swell with pride over how much tenacity he had to practice that much _every day_. No exaggerations intended, there was a whole entire page just for Adam's apples in the most unthinkable perspectives ever, there was another page dedicated to hands and in the next one there were- “Wow. Okay, too much, Junnie, too much.” 

“Oh my good, I think I need to go to church after seeing that.”

“The second you step foot in a church, you will instantly burn, Donghyuck.” Renjun retorted sarcastically, making the three of them laugh. 

~

“You _really_ should be stretching right now.” Jeno snickered right after speaking and Jaemin wanted to break something. Or cry. Let’s just say something in between that. 

It shouldn’t have been so easy for him to be casually stretching as if there wasn’t anything less tedious to do on earth. Like, it was still early, not even midday yet and they had cycled around 60 km. Someone should be bringing a sense of coherence into that conversation because Jeno certainly wasn’t.

“You're overestimating me if you think I’m capable of moving right now.” Jaemin grumble was muffled as he covered half his face with a hand. He could feel his muscles melting with every pulsation of his heart, which was nowhere near a pleasing sensation. Neither could he categorize it as horrible, though. It was more like a numb feeling taking over him. “I don’t think I have energy left to exist anymore, my dear. This might be the end.” 

“Oh, shut up.” Jeno kept on snickering as he walked towards his melting body on the floor, extending a hand for him to take. “If you stretch right now, the ice-cream is on me.” 

He then took Jeno’s hand in no time –because ice cream is ice cream– but instead of lifting himself up he dragged the other down. Sorry not sorry, Jeno dear.

The motion was surprising enough for the mechanic to let out a yelp as he fell right next to him on the grass, a little confused. 

“Deal. But we are stretching down here.” Jaemin offered, not missing the way Jeno’s smile widened by just the slightest, not even bothered by having been dragged down.

“You did well today, you know.” He said when they were both trying to touch their extended feet. “We trained quite a lot. Remember some weeks ago you were saying I was a well-trained guy? Look at you now.” 

“That’s cute and all Jen, but you can’t really be saying that when I can’t walk and you look just fine.” As if remarking his own point, he felt a boiling drip of sweat making its way down his temple and into a side of his face, excruciatingly slow.

“I’m tired too!” The mechanic’s voice was filled with amusement, which probably underlined just how much energy he still had left. “Anyway, the point is you got better.” He continued as he folded one leg backwards and laid back, stretching his quadriceps. “And I have to treat you to ice-cream now.”

In that position he really had to remind himself Jeno wasn’t single because he could feel his body heat near him; He could feel his movements, his closeness and he could also feel him smile, as usual, with those slit-shaped eyes shimmering with care.

Jaemin really kept on trying to focus solely on his own stretching exercises and on their friendship, but it was so difficult when Jeno’s smile was brighter than the daylight, brighter than anything that had ever dared to shine or gleam. Nearly an impossible task.

“Didn’t you- ah-” Jaemin gasped when he felt a sharp sting on his calf. “Fuck.” _Fuck._

“A cramp?” In a split second Jeno was already hovering over him with a concerned look, furrowed brows and serious gaze. After Jaemin had nodded to his question, he proceeded to hold his leg as hesitantly as if he was committing a crime, which Jaemin would’ve found cute if he hadn’t been busy dying out of pain. The fuck. He had never had such a painful cramp before, not even during his ‘athletic’ phase.

“Are you alright? Let me...” Jeno mumbled, too preoccupied with the visibly stiff muscle to acknowledge Jaemin’s entire face blushing like a freaking volcano the second he started _massaging_ his calf. 

It wasn’t a drill. Jeno was legitly massaging his leg as if he was freaking Cinderella in a park by the Han river on a Saturday morning. 

By now, it was only common that Jaemin got cramps after training. He didn’t particularly stretch that much and his muscles weren’t exactly used to biking those long distances in a short period of time. However, never had he suffered enough to let Jeno know about them until right now, that he unintentionally whined like a kid over it. Way to go.

From the very first start Jeno had advised him to go slow and even stopped him when he got hyped a little bit too much during their joint training. But the undeniable truth was that ever since Jaemin found confidence while riding his bike, he got more invested in using it to the furthest extent, meaning that he was reckless when he cycled by himself across the city. Meaning that his muscles didn’t get to rest that much. The name for this could be ‘coping mechanisms to ease stress’, and it worked pretty well for him….until now.

“Is it getting any better?” Jaemin could hear Jeno’s worried mumbles from where he was still holding his leg. At some point he himself had fallen backwards, lying down while covering his stupid blush with his hands in a precarious attempt to mask his I-am-grossly-in-love-with-you face.

“Y-yeah, yeah. It’s fine now. Thanks.” He grinned sheepishly as Jeno let go of him after a final careful stroke, and even though Jaemin could still feel his muscles numb, he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was Jeno, sitting again by his side, close enough for their thighs to brush. “Didn’t you have to go to the bike shop today?” He wondered out loud to change topics and hopefully forget about the million butterflies stabbing at his guts with little scalpels.

“Yeah. Although I really don’t feel like going right now.” Jeno actually pouted while saying that, looking at the sky before them over the hill. “Today is gonna be a beautiful day, don’t you think?” 

“It already is, Jeno.” 

  
  
  


One hour later Jaemin was on his bike again, heading home. 

Even though he was exhausted, It was always the highlight of his day when he went through the cycle lane towards his bed, unbothered, rediscovering a city he barely knew in the first place. Since he moved from a small town to the center of the country little more than a year ago, he wasn’t entirely used to the streets. He just had vague knowledge about the ones he went by in his daily routine during freshman year, which, curiously enough, felt different on his bike now.

There was something enticing about riding a bike. Something that felt unique, like nothing else he had experienced, Addictive, too. Fun.

A simple word could have labelled it as ‘freedom’, but it was not just that. He got to see every detail of the streets, places he would miss by car or bus. Sometimes he made eye-contact with random strangers as he went by, strangers who carried a story within their eyes just for him to see, to take in. To remember.

He could also create his routes, choose his trails, get to know neighbourhoods inside lost streets, find restaurants, all the while he noticed smells, textures and sensations along the trip.

There was simply so much going on Jaemin was really fond of cycling.

Meeting Jeno twice a week to go discover Seoul was another highlight, too. They had fallen into a certain routine after their first meeting, a routine where they biked and chatted for hours, every so often even messing out their schedules just to keep each other's company for a bit longer. That was how much closer they had gotten to and Jaemin could certainly address him as a really good friend these days. 

Sometimes they took the Hangang river’s trail, which stretched almost the entire length of the riverside. It was rather breathtaking –quite literally–, in Jaemin’s humble opinion because it covered a total distance of 80 kilometers, but in two different trails of 40 kilometers that went down both sides of the river. Clearly, they hadn’t ever finished the whole trail yet, Jaemin wasn’t seeking death that young.

And some other times they took unknown paths, following their hearts towards parks, bridges and some pretty places he didn’t know he could have access, even less reach on his bike.

Within those weeks, Jeno had taught him how to pedal correctly, how to read-speak cyclist language and how to maintain his bicycle so he didn’t spend his whole salary on the mechanic every month, which was a little dumb considerinig he was Jaemin’s mechanic. It only meant a loss for him, but that was why Jaemin was so grateful in the end. Jeno was always so nice to him, his intentions so pure and innocent.

On his part, he learnt as many things as he learnt with Jeno but by himself. Things like how to drive alongside cars, not to mess with bus drivers –because those souls had their patience tested everyday– and knowing when it was advised to cross red lights. It wasn’t, actually, advised by anyone but himself, but that was off topic; Sometimes you can’t just mess up your pace when there aren’t even cars coming. It made no sense. 

That was why rule number one was to know the path you are biking over, so you don’t get any surprises in the process. Thus, you stay safe.

One small thing ringing Jaemin’s bells was how Jeno never mentioned Doyoung. Not even casually, which made him a little inclined to think Jeno wasn’t dating the guy. Sometimes Jaemin even felt like Jeno’s smiles were sweeter when they were aimed at him, when they biked together or when they shared meals. He felt like there was something beyond words going on just between them.

But he knew the mechanic by now. He was reserved, and polite and so damn nice Jaemin wasn’t sure whether those little nothings were a sign of love or it was just Jeno being a good person. If only regular people would be nice and not nasty bitches, then he wouldn’t be confused right now. Those gigantic, neon questioning marks on his mind were to be blamed on the world, not on him. That was for sure.

Suddenly, he heard a faded beep coming from his backpack, so with one hand he grabbed his phone and went through his notifications as he slowed his pace. There was only one new message on his inbox, and as predictable as it sounds, it was one from Donghyuck.

**Cute Chocoball**

I’m a completely certain here 12:37

Like, 100% 12:37

I would bet your life and mine over how sure I am about this 12:37

Hell I’d bet your granny’s life too 12:38

**Minnie**

Hyuckie I’m driving 12:41

Stop beating around the bush 12:41

also betting my granny’s life pls!! 12:42

**Cute Chocoball**

Wow, no need to be grumpy 12:42

And you’re driving? Thankfully you won’t die 12:43

You have a helmet, remember? 12:43

Which reminds me of, who gave you that helmet? 12:43

Lee Jeno, right? The dude that is indeed SINGLE 12:44

and you’ve been DATING this whole time 12:45

Jaemin actually stood on a red light he could have just crossed because Donghyuck had those powers.

**Minnie**

How can you be so sure? 12:47

**Cute Chocoball**

I have a very reliable source 12:47

Like so reliable any other source I’ve ever had means bullshit 12:48

compared to this one 12:48

**Minnie**

Like which one? You don’t even know anyone close to Jeno 12:48

**Cute Chocoball**

You will have to trust me blindly with this one 12:49

But I’m telling you the truth 12:49

Promise 12:50

With a pointed look, he blocked his cellphones and resumed movement, not really convinced but weirded out. If he himself was confused, there was no way his best friend knew for sure.

~

“I would just tell him I’m in love with him.” Jisung murmured on his side. “It’s weird that you just let time fly by without saying anything to him.”

And that was the younger’s most brilliant and life-changing advice for y’all. _Just tell him._

“Oh, wow, Jisung. Wow, you’ve opened my eyes. I haven’t thought about it at all. You should write a book, really.” Jaemin responded with a roll of his eyes, half glaring to his side. 

“Is that something you would like to share with the whole class, Mr. Na?” 

Fuck. Maybe he spoke louder than previously intended.

“No, Mr.Qian. I’m sorry.” He apologized sheepishly, trying to muster his most angelical smile. “It won’t happen again.”

Mr.Qian nodded, turning around to keep on explaining the recipe of today’s class: Macarons. The most feared member of ‘The perfectionist pastries’ club. 

“What I mean is that you can always try. Didn’t your roomie say Jeno was single?” Jisung whispered, lower than last time.

“Yes, but why are you all obsessed with that? Even if he is single, that doesn’t necessarily mean he likes me back.” Jaemin retorted, starting to get frustrated. 

He wasn’t asking his friends to put themselves on his shoes; He knew that was nearly impossible because people were simply all too different for that. Nobody thought like him, or perceived reality like him, so no one could know _exactly_ what he was feeling or experiencing. Even so, within society’s established parameters it was evident that he was freaking scared to make a move, like regular people were when they risked valuable things (such as a new friendship or his delicate ego).

“I’m being honest here, Minnie. As for what you’ve told me, this guy is head over heels for you. No one ever-” Jisung paused, gazing down as their teacher turned around, looking for the person whispering. When it was safe again and Mr.Qian had faced the blackboard, he continued. “- No one ever gave me flowers because they suddenly thought about me when they saw them’. Please, you’re more than just friends and it’s gonna get painful at some point.”

And Jisung wasn’t saying anything new, yet again. Jaemin could actually picture his psychologist rolling her eyes out of the universe when he tells her what he had been up to this last month with Jeno. (“You still don’t know the meaning of self-preservation, don’t you?” “Yes I know it, Gina! But what can I do? I’m in love!” Then Gina would just sigh, begging with that heavy exhale for her holidays to come sooner.)

Mr. Qian then turned around again, starting to distribute the recipe he had meticulously been explaining over the whole class so far. 

“Okay. You will have to team up, as usual, and you’ll have one hour and a half to get the macarons done. Any questions?” Their teacher asked with measured tranquility, until it was perturbed –to no one’s surprise, really– by a cheeky boy raising his hand. Mr.Qian sighed. “Yes, Yangyang?”

“When we line the baking sheet with the parchment paper, should we cut the paper near the border or we should let it surpass the border of the baking sheet?” Yangyang made funny motions with his head as he spoke, as a child trying too hard to be polite would. 

Jaemin had always thought he was extremely cute, which wasn’t by any means a way to discredit Mr.Qian’s pain. The kid could be so oblivious and naive it got a little flustering to everyone in there, regardless of his pink puffed cheeks and candid smiles.

“That _literally_ won’t make any difference _at all_. But I’d rather have it lined up with the border, not surpassing it.” Their teacher explained.

Then Yangyang was nodding seriously, as if his question had been one hard to answer, while on his side his usual teammate raised his hand for the first time in the entire year of class. Jaemin could hear some muffled gasps in the air as he glanced at Jisung, as they had never heard him speak. Not even once. The guy would usually answer with a nod or a shake of the head, sometimes he would just open his eyes, so it was only a mystery what he could possibly come up with. The only thing they knew for sure was that his name was Hendery, since Yangyang screamed it every time he needed help (and that was all the time).

“Can we tint them black Mr.Qian?” Hendery ventured, opening his eyes wide as he did so, making Jaemin wonder if he would hoot like an owl afterwards. The guy had those unexplainable energies. 

“Yes but remember, and I’m addressing everyone here, you must tint them matching the flavour you’ll choose. Which flavor will you choose?” Mr.Qian queried, as serious and professional as ever. 

“We haven’t thought about it yet.” Hendery murmured, waving his hands in the air as he continued with a small smile. “Would you let us pass if we say they taste like death, Mr.Qian?” 

Jaemin couldn’t stop himself from gasping out loud.

Have you ever seen someone so out of place that you suddenly got anxious on their behalf? Like when someone laughed at a funeral or something like that.

Well, that was the energy Hendery exuded now, simply waiting for an answer as the whole class covered their mouths, trying not to fully panic because the worldwide renowned pastry chef Qian Kun –A.K.A their current teacher– wasn’t someone you could just humor. It was of general knowledge that the only person who had ever dared to make fun of Mr.Qian in a disrespectful manner ended up having no career, thus, dead to the culinary world. 

So why the bloody hell did Hendery stand there with a chill gaze and his immaculate toque at the top of his head like it was nothing?

“You’ll have to try to know that, Mr.Huang.” Their teacher _snickered_. Yes, he snickered with amusement and without malice, to everyone's stupefaction. “Okay, you can start. Any help you need, I’ll be here checking out on you.” 

And since everyone but Hendery was still surprised, there was a second of general dubitation until someone hummed and every team started directing themselves towards their aisles. 

“Can you believe what just happened?” Jaemin whispered to Jisung, who was inspecting their egg whites closely.

“Honestly?” Jisund looked up. “I think I wanna be friends with Hendery. Like, real bad.” 

Before them, Yangyang and Hendery were already destroying their cooking engines some aisles ahead, with loud bangs and unnatural creaking sounds which caused both Jisung and Jaemin to find themselves admiring the scene with newfound curiosity.

“Me too.” Jaemin nodded. “He seems wild.”

Then they started following the recipe in relative silence, only speaking when needed. They always worked in that way as they gossiped during explanation time, then had to concentrate three times harder on the recipe because of that. Both of them knew it could be a lot easier if only they just paid attention from the very beginning, but traditions ended up being traditions for a reason. 

Most of the time their traditions weren’t the best, but they just embraced them anyway.

However, the second they placed their macarons in the oven with a seemingly neat procedure acquired, Jisung went on again.

“I just think you really like Jeno and you’re kinda sabotaging yourself here.”

“You know what? I’ll do it, Jisungie sweety.” Jaemin said, patting down his uniform to get rid of any wrinkles, without looking up. “I’ll tell him how I feel when you tell that cute cashier from the sweet shop we frequent every thursday how _you_ feel about him.” 

“W-what? What do you mean? Chenle is just a friend and- and we were talking about you, not me!” Jisung got as red as it was humanly possible and it was the only confirmation Jaemin needed to know he had won. What a kiddo, he should at least know who he was messing with.

“See, Jisungie? It’s not that simple to be in love.” He commented later when their kitchen timer made a peppy sound. 

“Yeah, although it should be.” Jisung nodded, as he got their backing sheet out of the oven.

~

“That’s cheating!!” Jaemin heard Jeno’s scream muffled by the strong headwind threatening to end their lives.

“I can’t see why!” He yelled back, mouth facing the sky above, being careful to breathe in and out correctly since he would be dying for sure otherwise. 

They weren’t just cycling against nature and its forces; of course not. They were also racing against each other. 

Jaemin was winning so far, ’by cheating’, some people might say, but given the fact that he was the one who offered to race in the first place –Read in between lines ‘literally screaming out of the blue “last one who gets to Mangwon Hangang park pays for the food!” like an actual kid’– he assumed he was in charge of _deciding the rules._

That was how Jaemin wasn’t cheating. He simply happened to be aware of the race a little sooner than Jeno had. Not his problem.

“But what I can actually see is-” He made a pause to breathe as he felt a drip of sweat making its way down his back, which was grossly damp. “-The Han river. Guess I will win no matter how- how cyclist you’re.” Jaemin concluded, aware of how he sounded like a pathetic kid about to faint.

“Are you sure ‘bout that?” Jeno voiced high as he appeared magically by his side, composed and collected like a ninja, yet focused on the road until he turned to him briefly. “Stop staring!! Look at the path, Min. We’re close!” 

“How are you- Fuck.” He couldn’t really keep up the pace anymore, not when the wind was such a strong motherfucker. If he would actually stop pedaling, he wouldn’t be surprised if he started going backwards.

Before them, Jaemin could spot the tunnel that led to the park; they were indeed so close that their race would be over soon. Meaning that he probably won’t die in the end.

“We can do this!! Let 's go!” The mechanic cheered and fastened the pace, which was unquestionably an impossible reality to Jaemin’s sloppy, aching muscles.

Thankfully, in no time he found himself lying on the grass, melting like a forgotten ice cream on a bench whilst Jeno placed their bikes over a near tree.

“I’m gonna die.”

“I do not recommend it.” Jeno’s eyesmile was making a striking appearance as he gazed at the million lights of cars reflected over the blurry mirror of Seongsan bridge above the river. “But if you do, I can’t think of a better place than doing it here.”

The way Jeno loved biking through Hangang River's trail never failed to amaze Jaemin, nor how he always took a minute to sink in the most trivial things nobody really paid attention to.

Jeno once told him about his visits to that park as a child alongside his father and sister. He always gave Jaemin the image of colorful lights exploding over water during festive days and dangerous lightnings during storms as his gifts, followed by innumerable stories and sensations that came strictly out of somewhere sweet, something pure and beautiful that only childhood could provide.

The mechanic told him, too, about how he felt at home there, closer to his father whom he could no longer meet. After that brief but rather heartfelt piece of information Jaemin had certainly fallen a little deeper in love with him, not because of pity or anything but the fact that Jeno had opened up to him for the first time. 

“No!” He heard someone yell, bringing him back from his eternal mulling-over-Jeno time. “Come back!!” 

Not even a second later he was shoved to a side by something fluffy and strong. Needless to say, his deactivated body was left turned to the side, unmoving and in pain until his eyes landed on his beautiful threat. 

Seriously, the most beautiful threat on earth, Jaemin decided as he smiled widely, forgetting about his aching body.

With pretty paws and little fluffy hairs sticking out of his tail like the cutest thing out there, with its tongue out and little moon crescents as eyes there before him, Jaemin saw a marvelous samoyed dog smiling back at him.

More specifically, his favourite dog. (As a matter of fact, every dog was actually his favourite dog, but Samoyed happened to remind him of Jeno. So, irredeemably, it was his favourite by just the slightest bit. Don’t tell anyone.)

“Oh crap! I’m sorry.” A man apologized as he jogged towards them, holding a kid close to his chest. Jaemin’s paternal instincts immediately told him that the little child couldn't be older than four years, maybe five. 

“It’s no problem!” He looked at the now completely joyful dog laying across his side, waiting for caresses he surely could provide. “He’s such a beauty.” Jaemin continued saying while hugging the dog, because that was how little self-control he had when it came to those fluffy creatures of love.

The man who was now standing before him had long red hair messily styled up in a little bun with a few short strands falling to both sides, beside his fringe. His ears were adorned with sparkly earrings that shimmered with every slight movement of his face and it looked so pretty. The man himself was pretty and kinda mischievous, Jaemin noted acknowledging the way he glanced down at him with wondering eyes. Hugging at his neck there was a thin silver choker made of cloth and Jaemin couldn’t fail to notice, once again, how it contrasted incredibly well with his dark blue shirt patterned with little roses. On his lower part he had light blue jeans and, extremely endearing to the eye, the little kid holding closely to his left knee as if he was holding onto a lifeline. 

Upon having seen such uncertainty coming from the kid, whose face was leveled with Jaemin now, he was already introducing himself.

“Hi sunshine! I’m Jaemin, but you can call me Nana!! What’s your name?” He uttered confidently since he had quite the reputation with kids. Something about his smile sat right under children's judgement, his old granny once told him. Yet, she might’ve been incredibly wrong, as the little kid looked puzzled while staring between the redhead and him without stop.

“He can’t understand you.” The man explained with a breathtaking smile, one of those that stole breaths and hearts and people’s sanity. Jaemin briefly thought that the man might have been just as handsome as Jeno, but in a completely different way.

After that brief mutual inspection, the man switched to another language, this time addressing the kid. Then, they were both turning to him again, all smiles and expectation. 

“I’m Sho-shotaro.” The kid stuttered with an accented korean as he looked up at the man again, seemingly looking for approval. Jaemin felt like melting all over again, but this time out of how puffy the kid’s cheeks were. Puffy enough to make him feel the need to squish them. 

“Well done!!” The redhead cheered, consequently lifting the kid up in the air and to his chest again. “Such a great job, Taro-chan.” 

Then Shotaro was looking expectantly at Jaemin, pointing at him with a minuscule, delicate finger as if expecting him to answer. It was safe to say he could have fainted over the cuteness™ the kid emanated. Really, the universe was testing his will to live again that day.

With that image ahead, he hummed, over exaggerating the motion to keep on captivating the child while thinking whether he should just finish the conversation there or try to communicate through language barriers. 

In the end, he decided to just shrug and make a funny face because nothing he could say would make sense to the kid other than a motion, unluckily. 

“Inu no namae wa?” 

Jaemin could hear the question coming from his side, clearly in another language, but he didn’t understand from who because the redhead hadn't opened his mouth at all. It only took him some seconds, then, to realize that Jeno had been the one to speak. 

Jeno, who had approached him by his side, right before the now asleep dog near his lap. Jeno, whose body was the closest to his it had ever been while he was addressing the child with the tranquility of a person who knew what he was doing.

Jeno, who could speak fluent –japanese?– with strangers by the Han river as if talking with Mark any random day.

“ROKU!!!!” Shotaro yelled, opening his arms as he giggled uncontrollably, shifting so much under the man’s hold that the latter had to put him down. 

After the yell, the dog woke up and sluggishly approached Shotaro, who hugged him by the neck as if he was hugging his best friend, brushing his face against the dog’s, who simply breathed with its mouth open. Jaemin was 100% sure he had already melted for good now.

“Are you japanese?” The man wondered, acknowledging Jeno for the first time. His smile had turned somewhat sweeter, just the same as Shotaro’s after listening to the –japanese– question.

“Nope! But my sister’s fiance is from Kyoto, so I studied for some years to make him feel included in the family.” The mechanic explained in korean, making the man before him nod understandingly with a certain spark in his eyes, one that Jaemin knew too well. 

That was the look of someone homesick. 

“Well, it’s very heartwarming to hear japanese in this country.” The man said in thought. “It’s not that usual.”

“[Yuta-san](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iZeFYzNwX-u03Mdnw7sk9b7dYNWCwpXipflEEoCL55BImbBZIvBtmeJ1grR8dueey9-n4lQNW3BHlNw1Kscr9wambWCooMlQ4Wk=w780-rj-l80-nu-e365)!!! Roku!!” Shotaro suddenly squeaked, pointing at the dog that was getting further apart from them, running towards another couple by the other end of the park. 

“Let’s go look for Roku!!” The redhead shouted with delight, as he lifted the little child again. “Bye bye!! Say goodbye, Sho-chan!!” He said, waving at Jeno and Jaemin while rushing towards the dog’s direction.

And as Jaemin could see how the duo got further apart from them, the warm feeling on his heart after taking in the image of Shotaro hugging the Samoyed was still swaying inside his mind, impregnated there as a reminder of how beautiful childhood used to be. 

“I think I literally just died for real.” Jaemin deadpanned, looking at Shotaro waving at them over the man’s shoulder, from too many meters apart for the kid to actually still be waving at them. “The cuteness was so real I died.” 

“I would say I do not recommend dying, but I’m a little affected too. Shotaro was indeed so cute.” Jeno spoke with a little grin that reminded him of how breathtaking and handsome he was while speaking japanese. 

“You’ll never stop surprising me, won’t you? Japanese?” He asked and Jeno shifted so their legs were touching. Jaemin, of course, forgot about his own aching body or sweaty gross face. In his mind there was just a long babbling voice saying _jenojenojeno_. 

“Yeah.” Jeno murmured, looking at the beginning of the sun setting before them, over the river. “And you love dogs?”

“I do.” He responded without hesitation. Dogs were his spirit animal and that had been established from a premature stage of his life. That was likely to be the only thing that had been established ever since like...ever. That and his obvious colorful sexuality. “Don’t you?”

“I do too, but I’m allergic.” The mechanic had that puppy dog pout that could stop time and actually compete against Shotaro in level of cuteness, in Jaemin’s subjective scale of what he considered cute and gorgeous and worth dying for. 

After some minutes of silence, the sun was already going down, the weather got cooler and nobody could have blamed Jaemin for shifting just a tad closer to Jeno. Neither could he be blamed for letting his head rest on the mechanic’s shoulder as he closed his eyes and breathed in.

The sky had turned somewhat warm, tinting the river a beautiful orange, the bridge before them filled with little car lights adorning the scene like newborn fireflies.

“I’m sure a few sneezes won’t ever stop you from loving a Samoyed.” He commented, listening to the sound of water running far away and children playing, brushing his hand against Jeno’s in the grass.

~

Things were getting out of hand.

Not that they had been at arm’s reach at any point, but it had gotten worse. Things were nowhere near under Jaemin’s hands or control, which was certainly nerve-wracking and distracting.

And why, someone may ask? The answer was easy: Uncertainty.

Gina –his previously introduced psychologist– would be scolding him the second he opens his mouth to explain the situation. She would ask ‘And why did you reach that point?’, leaving him tongue-tied, embarrassed and, above all, conscious that he had an actual role in his life and its events.

Jaemin despised decision making time like every human being whose life was a in hardcore mode. Actually, no. Scratch that last part, let’s just say every human being. Making a decision sometimes could be much denser and more difficult than...simply doing nothing, like what he had been doing for the past few months.

Jeno was sweet; too sweet maybe and there was nothing clear in Jaemin’s mind but his infatuation. What if he kissed him or confessed and it turned out he had been imagining ’their chemistry’ all along? Jeno would be gone, that was for sure.

That was how he couldn’t stop meeting him, nor could he confess. Such a dilemma. 

What was worse: he might have started developing a certain addiction; one that came from that part of his senses he wasn’t, yet again, in control of. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t handle being in love but endorphins and serotonin happened to go beyond his rationality. Meaning that it didn’t matter if he knew that situation probably wasn’t healthy for him, he just wanted to meet Jeno. Period.

What was even worse (because things could always get worse), it had been more than a week since they both could meet.

Because of exams week, _of course_. 

And not only they couldn’t match their schedules because of studying and work, they couldn’t even text that much, as they both had exams the day the other didn’t. 

“Hyuckie, have you seen my yellow tee?” Jaemin asked, barging inside Donghyuck’s bedroom without much thought, not really bearing in mind how a _closed door_ meant no disturbances within their household rules ever since forever. 

The first thing he acknowledged inside was the dead ass silence in the room, as if there was no one there. The place was a mess; much more than usual, Jaemin thought as he took sight of the disheveled general state of Donghyuck’s bedroom. There were several pieces of clothing thrown all over the floor (even some basketball shorts that Jaemin didn’t recognize. He could only assume Donghyuck had bought them recently), as well as his bedspread that laid misshapen by the end of his bed.

“Minnie?” Donghyuck asked alarmed, eyes open wide as he sat up fast, covering his chest with one sharp motion while Jaemin got closer to the wardrobe, promptly opening the doors looking for his tee. “What the fuck! Get the fuck out NOW!”

“Why are you-” _Yelling._

That’s what Jaemin would’ve asked if only he hadn’t been left speechless, probably at a loss of words for the next century and whatnot. And one remarkable fact about Na Jaemin was that nothing silly or trivial left him unable to use his words. 

Yet, there he was; As dumbstruck as his mother was when Jaehyun came out as queer to the family one cold winter evening with teary eyes and guilt written all over his face. (As a whole it was a funny story because Jaehyun proved his worth as a ‘Na’ showing high drama for the first time. His ‘Jung’ side, which was his father’s side, used to take over him quite a lot back in those days.)

Blinking once, then twice, he thought it kinda made a lot of sense now. Those weird interactions, those overly snarky comments, it was all coming into sense on his mind. Some distant part of himself knew already but he hadn’t given it much thought, at least not enough to have come to this realization.

Jaemin closed the wardrobe door with a smirk he didn’t even bother to hold back and turned to Donghyuck, who was acknowledging defeat for once in his life.

“Jaemin. Don’t you know how to knock on the fucking door?”

“So…” He hummed, shamelessly ignoring the question because he certainly could. Donghyuck’s face was a clear mix of embarrassment and annoyance and Jaemin smiled to himself again, bearing in mind how he hadn’t seen a flustered Donghyuck ever since middle school, when his fellow friend started developing and discovering the power of being a confident gay. “I don’t mean to pry, but why is Mark Lee half naked in your closet?”

His best friend on the bed let out the deepest huff heard to existence. Jaemin even feared he would damage his lungs according to how harsh he let that air out. 

“Mark. You can get out, he saw you already.” Donghyuck voiced weakly while covering his eyes with a hand. 

A second later, as if summoned by Donghyuck’s bitter words, the wardrobe door opened itself slowly, as slow as if a ghost was opening it, until half a face peeked through the door’s frame. 

“Hi, Jaem.” Mark uttered softly, cheeks as tinted as Donghyuck’s. “What’s up?” 

At those shy motions, Jaemin tried to hold back his laughter this time to bring some comfort to the room. He wanted Donghyuck writhing with shame, not poor angel Mark. 

"I’m fine! And you? I just wanted my yellow tee! I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’m sorry." 

"It's over the desk." Donghyuck grumbled darkly, with furious red cheeks now and that could only mean Jaemin’s farewell.

“Oh, haha. Here it is.” He chirped when he grabbed something yellowish that didn’t seem like his tee at all, turning again towards his still _defeated_ best friend. “Um...so, happy to see you here, Mark.” 

“Uh. Thanks.” The other replied, making his way towards Donghyuck’s bed, opening the sheets and jumping inside.

“Do you need anything else, _Jaemin_?” Donghyuck dropped his name as if he was throwing a knife. Right. Message received, time to leave. 

Yet, the second he turned towards the door muttering a soft “No, no. See you around, guys.”, Mark spoke up again, this time impossibly closer to Donghyuck, likely cuddling him under the blankets. “Hey, just so you know...you make Jeno really happy. He always talks about you.”

And after that comment Jaemin could only stare and so did Donghyuck. Mark, on his part, just beamed casually, looking at Donghyuck as if he hadn’t just addressed Jaemin very randomly. 

With a nod and a hum, Jaemin decided to finally leave the couple alone, mind fuzzy with thoughts. 

It made sense, he pondered when he got outside the room, that Donghyuck was in love with Mark –had probably always been–, so in love he let his purest feelings out to the world, just to call the older’s attention. It only made sense. Donghyuck was in love and the fact that the room reeked like sex and they were both almost naked meant nothing in comparison to his lingering gaze over the other boy, who had been casually beaming at no one in particular some seconds ago.

What didn’t make much sense was why the heck Mark dropped that comment about Jeno, which had surely stirred something inside of him. It didn’t make sense and he really needed to give it a sense, to see Jeno and tell him what he felt.

This time, he made sure to knock on Renjun’s door while still looking for his yellow tee that wasn’t the medallion scarf he got out of Donghyuck’s desk. And as he checked the time, Jaemin thought he couldn’t wait to meet Jeno soon. He really couldn’t. 

~

Donghyuck could hear the almost silent click of the door somewhere behind Mark, who was now holding onto his waist, jaw brushing against the top of his head. 

Great, it meant Jaemin was gone already. Thank god.

That was why he let his hands wander over Mark’s chest, feeling his skin, its softness, his little moles here and there, trying to print every detail on his mind as if that was their last meeting. 

Donghyuck tried not to show his desperation, he really did, but the concept of that potentially being the last time he stood under Mark’s hold made him want to tear something apart.

Because in the end, he never knew how things worked with Mark Lee. 

They disliked each other but at the same time not. They cared for each other but at the same time they wanted to beat each other up. Not very understandable for their whole class and teacher included. Hell, not even understandable to himself.

That might be why everything felt the way it did with Mark. Intense and extreme, as if every meeting was gonna be their last one. As if every kiss was gonna be the last one.

“Why did you tell Jaemin that?”

“I don’t know. I kinda feel sorry for them pining for each other like that.” Mark answered, moving his hands softly from the crook of his waist towards his lower back as he kissed Donghyuck softly, as Mark liked kissing him every time they met in furtive rooms and silent nights.

“Yeah, I feel sorry for them too.” Donghyuck voiced in thought when they parted from the kiss. “They can’t do it easily, like us.” 

It was kinda dishonest on his part to say that, probably, when he had been pinning for Mark like the dumbest person out there from the very second their semester and competition started. Yeah, no shit. He was pining for someone he could kiss, but not introduce to his friends. They could screw, but not have a proper date like regular people had, because at the end of the day they weren’t even friends. They were just people competing against each other who happened to find the other hot. And Donghyuck falling head over heels for Mark at some point had nothing to do with that.

“Yeah.” Mark hummed, not really sounding convinced at all, which roused an infinite stream of questions in Donghyuck that he couldn’t take so early in the morning. It was barely 6AM, he didn’t even know why they were up.

“Cuddles and snacks?” He dared to ask, not willing to accept his negative feelings. Not even willing to accept Mark wasn’t his partner, nor friend. 

“Sure!” The other cheered like a child, smiling good-naturedly as per usual with his shimmering eyes and marked cheekbones. “Can we watch that show about LA crimes?”

“Yeah, whatever.” He answered with a roll of his eyes, feigning annoyance as Mark kissed him square on the lips again, this time with much more energy than before.

Donghyuck only let his guard down when he was gone, too immersed in the feeling of their bodies pressed together. Too immersed in Mark, who was suddenly mouthing at his neck, touching him with tender care, with a newfound fragility he hadn’t ever shown. As if he was also trying to forget about their messed up lives that awaited outside that bedroom. 

As if he was holding onto that moment the way Donghyuck was. 

Fuck that stupid scholarship.

“Don’t you dare leave my room.” He warned when he detached himself from Mark. The second he did so he was already itching for his touch and he made a mental note to stop being so damn clingy. They weren’t even dating in the end.

When he reached the door, he took one last look at his classmate lying on his bed like that was the only place in the world he would rather be. And while he opened the door and made his way into the kitchen, Donghyuck wished it was like that. 

Mark belonging to his bed; to him, to his life, easily and without much fuss.

But, as ever, it was a little more complicated than that. 

~

At some point Han river parks started resembling a safe place for Jaemin, to a point he frequented them almost every day. As unbelievable as it sounds, he once found himself reading a book in Ichon Hangang park during his scarce and utterly precious free time some weeks ago.

It wouldn’t have been a striking thing to mention, if not for the fact that he rarely ever read books by himself, neither did he go hang out in places outside without company. In all honesty, he would rather watch TV at home with his friends.

He thought he could only attribute this ground-breaking activity to Jeno, who never failed to voice out his adoration towards those places, always ranting about how eating ramyeon by the Han river’s trail was a must, how fishing and flying kites were more exciting alongside the inmensity the parks provided, alongside the vast stories that resided in every centimeter of grass and hills and bushes.

Guess that was just another beautiful thing he attributed to Jeno, out of the million thousand other ones he could elaborate on if ever being asked to.

He wondered where Jeno would be. They were supposed to meet in 10 minutes and he really couldn’t wait, not after talking with Mark and Donghyuck.

"Minnie." Jaemin felt the proximity of Jeno’s body next to him, which made him startle back to earth from his inner wandering.

“Hey.” Jaemin’s legs trembled like a highschooler when he turned his face to the side, spotting the other close to him, smiling like he always did. “Missed me?”

“You could say that.” The mechanic snickered and got even closer to him, mid hugging him for a second.

It was indeed a pleasing thing to hear Jeno mildly admitting it because Jaemin had missed him more than he was proud to acknowledge. In other words, he checked up on his social way too many times for that to be polite or healthy or simply okay. He also considered calling Jeno once, just to hear his voice. 

Yeah, lame. And...creepy.

Luckily, that stressing college moment was over now and they were able to bike again. No more exams for the near month.

“How much biking time do we have today?” 

“All the biking time in the world.” Jaemin informed, grinning lightly as Jeno detached himself from the hug.

If someone told him three months ago Jaemin would be willingly waking up at 6:00AM on a Sunday just to go training, he would have laughed at their faces. His hysterical cries would have been out of malice, overflowing with sarcastic tints and sassy motions.

Still, look at him now… with his cycling outfit on, helmet shining at the top of his head and bike ready by his side, even arriving earlier than agreed just because he felt extra motivated that morning. 

Moral of the story: don’t make fun of people. Not even hypothetically because that’s what happens then. You wake up at 6:00 AM because you miss your handsome friend –who also happens to be your romantic interest– so much you feared running out of breath and dying.

Maybe the unknown explanation for that unreasonable motivation he felt really had to do with what Mark told him half an hour ago. Maybe not. Maybe it didn’t matter at all because telling Jeno how he felt was bound to happen at some point. 

Or at least trying to tell him, actually trying this time.

However, as soon as he spotted the mechanic wearing his dark Adidas jogging and black cycling jersey, well, no. Any of that was happening because he was also wearing one of his sweetest smiles, one that never failed to enlighten his day and heart and soul and, heck Jaemin was so in love he could die. And maybe Donghyuck was right and he misused the concept of dying every single day of his life, it could happen.

“Great! Then we can go with plan A.” Jeno said, getting ready to ride his bike.

“Where’s plan A?” Jaemin followed, getting on his bike too.

“It’s a surprise.” With a little grin and a swift motion, Jeno started leading the way.

  
  
  


Since the city wasn’t precisely empty –after all, Seoul was called ‘the city that never sleeps’ for a reason– it wasn’t completely different from their usual sight, but the energy sure was of another kind. It made Jaemin remember, yet again, of his childhood, of waking up early during the weekend to go camping by the mountains, coming back home late at night with mosquito bites all over his legs and sunburns that made his mother _literally_ faint. 

“How did your exams go?” Jeno suddenly asked. He was biking ahead of him, so Jaemin couldn’t see his face. Yet, he would’ve bet his life (and Donghyuck’s too) that the other was still smiling.

“I think they went pretty well. At least two out of three. What about you?”

“Same.” The mechanic let out a breathy snicker as he relented his pace, trying to bike by his side. “I think I did okay but it was so stressful. Sometimes I wonder if all this struggle is worth the degree.” He made a pause which Jaemin could certainly relate to, since he had those wonders, too.

Well, who didn’t?

It would be gratifying, he guessed, to have a better job, to work in a huge company as the graphic designer he aimed to be, to feel the comfort of having achieved his dreams and be successful.

Nonetheless, there was just so much sacrifice in the path towards that. Too much, probably. And he was no longer thinking about studies. More like the whole you-are-not-a-kid-anymore experience.

“I mean, it’s worth it. It should be! But I really missed biking with you last week. I was literally inside my dorm going through notes and notes while trying not to rip my hair out.” Jeno kept on going while Jaemin nodded continuously.

They were biking together now, side by side and entering a new trail; one that Jaemin had never been to.

“I missed you too.” He murmured back, a little touched by how quiet Jeno had sounded. “I mean, I missed this too.” He corrected fast, motioning with his hands between their moving bikes.

This new path had quite the sight, Jamin noticed when he started paying attention to it. Cherry blossoms weren’t so uncommon in their city since the government promoted its propagation and care so he had seen plenty of them on many occasions. Flower fields, ecologic parks and touristic streets. Pretty much all over the country.

However, when his eyes landed over the awaiting path of [white cherry blossoms](https://ayookekorea.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/802b96d5526c78fc31af4480a44c5d76.jpg?w=620&h=412) by the river, he thought he hadn't seen ones looking so pretty before. The morning sun rays filtered through its branches in a special way, and with low-key disappointment he thought he should have brought his camera. 

Jaemin sighed, dazzled by everything that moment was offering. The view, the wind and Jeno grinning by his side. 

Jaemin was dazzled and…worried.

The thing about feelings was that they simply weren’t...well, simple. Feelings could be complicated, which explained why even though that was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen Jaemin couldn’t help but immerse himself in his inner turmoil of wonders that adulthood brought along with it.

He wondered if his life would go by without him noticing; He wondered and feared, let’s just say how it was. Always working nonstop, studying nonstop, doing what people told him to do without really stopping to look back, to take a break and breath. Just suck it up and comply with society's expectations of what you’re supposed to be doing to survive.

He wondered if life was just that, an eternal row of equations he needed to get done to get past it. Maybe he was just being dramatic, but at the end of the day he would still be wondering that, eyes opened wide and projects he should be working on.

Suddenly, a peloton of cyclists appeared from behind them and easily passed by their side. Those were the well known morning cyclists that wake up at ungodly hours of the day every day, just to get their training done. Those creatures were beyond daunting when they were all together and pedaling in unison as if they were one, at least it was like that for Jaemin.

“OH MY GOD.” Jeno gasped, making him jolt back to earth, yet again. “MINNIE, LOOK!! Look! Look at that bike. Oh my god. Those shifters are like, stupidly expensive, wait.” The mechanic actually stopped right on his tracks and got off his bike while covering his mouth with a hand. “And those tires? Indestructible, not only the best in the market but the newest in the whole world. That's a new generation of tires.” 

By the time the peloton was nowhere near sight over the path, Jeno was still gaping at that bike by the side of the way, still rambling about things Jaemin not only didn’t understand, but couldn’t precisely pay attention to because of the way Jeno was ranting. It was so adorable it was almost unfair.

“I like you.” As casual as if he was reminding Donghyuck to open the windows of their dorm, Jaemin spoke up before his mind could interfere. “I like you, Jeno.” He repeated, then, with urgency and actually looking at the other this time.

“Yeah! And those tires even- Wait. What?” Jeno’s evident confusion was even cuter than his bike rant and Jaemin wanted to cry because he just confessed impulsively over it. Oh, god. Earth please swallow him whole for once and good. “What did you just say?”

That was how he knew he fucked up, he fucked up badly and there was nothing to do now. “I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Jeno. I didn’t intend to, really- I just-”

“What? No, no, Minnie. Hey!” The mechanic’s voice was sweet after a deadbeat, sweeter than honey and sugar, just like his smile. “I...I like you too. A lot.”

~

“Did you know this is my favourite place in the city?” 

“Yeah, I knew.” Jeno smiled when he spotted Jaemin’s befuddled face pressed over his shoulder. “Jaehyun told me you liked it here.”

“Huh? Did he really? Who would have thought he’d remember.” He commented, letting his heavy head rest over Jeno’s shoulder, no longer caring about his sweaty face staining Jeno’s clothes. 

Whereas the day had started with a sudden and not previously meditated confession, now it was ending with them cuddling on a bench in Namsan park. It was already dark, probably 8 or 9 PM, Jaemin didn’t really know, but what he knew for sure was that he felt as equally tired as happy.

“We used to come with my family during holidays and we would alway hike in the mountains.” His voice was almost like a mumble, somewhere in between remembering cherishing moments and utter exhaustion.

“I think I’ve never been here with my family.” Jeno voiced in thought, as Jaemin let out the widest and most exaggerated yawn known to humankind, with his whole face twisting into a wrinkled mess.

Throughout the day they cycled all over the city, shared chocolate cake in a hidden café in Itaewon and visited the National museum in Yongsan afterwards. Later they went all the way to Seongbuk, only to come back to Jung-su and into Jaemin's favourite park. That was an interesting training, considering they spent at least one hour in each district wandering around. 

And it goes without saying, Jaemin was more asleep than awake by this point.

“Can I call you Nana?” Jeno murmured suddenly sheepish, and it was stupid but Jaemin’s cheeks felt embarassingly warm at the question. Jeno was gonna be the end of him, like literally. No drama intended. He’d die.

“Nobody ever called me Nana since primary school.” 

“Oh, I won’t if you don’t-” Jeno stuttered, starting to get flushed too.

“I love it.” The nickname sounded tender and it reminded him of the most beautiful things from childhood he could remember, like lying in parks and biking with Jaehyun did. “You can call me Nana, I love it.” He hummed now recklessly gazing at the other’s lips.

And although Jeno seemed to be just as oblivious as him –considering how long it took for them to address their feelings for each other– he got the message right away. 

It happened in an instant. Them leaning into one another with hitched breaths, closing their eyes while Jeno rested his fingers on Jaemin's cheeks at the whisper of “Nana, then.” 

~

“We’re close.” Renjun gasped, so out of breath Xiaojun was actually starting to feel concerned. “If I die, then just walk past my corpse and hand this fucking project, Dejun! Don’t even look back.”

“You won’t die, Junnie. Come on! We can do this!” He cheered, shaking a fist in the air because that was the only thing his mind could come up with as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

One cheerful ‘woosh’ and the doors were open before them. Another ‘woosh’ and they were by Renjun’s door, sweaty and trembling while his fellow partner seeked for his keys.

Their collaborative essay was due in half an hour and the second their feet touched their lecture hall with an easy-going vibe they realized they had forgotten it in Renjun’s flat. Pretty clever move, right?

Xiaojun had blamed it on their lack of sleep, which was worsening by every passing millisecond. Renjun, as harsh as he liked to brand himself, had blamed it on their own idiocy.

It didn’t actually matter, though, whatever reason made them end up running like two mad men, breathing frustration and exhaling plain panic as if that was the most healthy thing to do on a calmed spring morning. It didn’t matter because that project would be delivered to his teachers on time and at all costs; Xiaojun was sure of it since there was no other end up scenario that felt acceptable and he had been working way too much on his positivity for the past years to stop trying right now.

“Oh mY fUckInG GoD. I just remember we didn’t add the final conclusion to the essay, the one we wrote on a different doc. We got distracted by that creepy sound in the library last night, remember that we didn’t add it?” Renjun’s rushed waterfall of words would have been nonsense to any conventional human being; but Xiaojun had had his fair share of it by now. Meaning that he understood that weird mix of korean and chinese pretty well. “I can add it really fast now, but I need to access the computer and it takes time. Would it be okay if you look for something to eat in the kitchen while I do that? I’m legitly dying.” His fellow classmate mumbled, already darting towards his own bedroom. 

And Xiaojun was just a boy who wanted no corpses on his watch, that’s all.

“Sure, sure. Go!” He forced a smile, trying to ease his friend as he took notice of just how hungry he actually felt. Starving. Dying. They didn’t eat since the...the previous morning, probably?

“Um.” Xiaojun heard someone clear his throat when Renjun was gone, so he turned around fast, facing two tangled boys on the sofa, one at the top of the other and both of them staring. 

Needless to say, Xiaojun felt his blood pressure dropping to his feet and underground levels, likely.

“You are Xiaojun, right? Nice to meet you again!” The one that was below the other uttered, as cheerful as if it wasn’t eight AM on a Saturday of ‘History of art lll’. Seriously, Xiaojun really should have considered that taking a class on Saturdays would, inevitably, lead to handing projects on that exact day. “How have you been?” 

“Hi!” He provided his usual polite smile, bowing lightly and unsure of whether it was okay or not to be formal with Renjun’s roommate and his...apparent boyfriend? “Yes, I am. Sorry to interrupt.”

“Oh! No, it’s fine. I’m Jaemin, by the way.” The boy below the other sat up on the couch as the other, who had been hovering over him seconds ago sat up too, leaving an empty spot by their side “Wanna sit?”

“Me?” He signaled with a single finger to his chest. “Oh no, thank you! I gotta prepare some snacks…”

“Yeah, yeah, we heard Renjun commanding you, poor soul. The kitchen is over there, feel at home Xiaojun!” Jaemin smiled sweetly at him, calmly and he nodded in comeback, not really thrusting his words not to falter. After all, he felt like an intruder the more he looked at Jaemin holding the other's hand tightly, playing with his knuckles, both smiling expectantly at him. “If you need any help, just ask us.” 

“Thank you, sorry to interrupt.” He repeated and bowed again, hesitating and awkward only in the way he could.

That was why he suddenly rushed towards the kitchen, not looking back once as he felt a rush of adrenaline over the embarrassment. Wow, it had been a while since he almost fainted over _socializing with strangers._

Yet, that couldn't be the worst part of the whole scene that by the way, was already making its way into the top ten ranking moments he maximised his awkwardness enough to spread it out in the open. 

The worst part would certainly be him, in the kitchen –where he found noodles to prepare– unintentionally overhearing the couple's conversation from over the living room. 

“What if we biked over that trail together?” Jaemin was saying and Xiaojun tried to play dumb and simply block the conversation out of his brain like he did in class all the time. He really tried but the voice that answered was so clear, he simply couldn't.

"Over the whole country? Are you mad, Nana?" This man's voice was laced with nothing but sweetness, he noted, entirely and solely aimed at Jaemin which caused certain endearment in Xiaojun's poor and very much still-single heart. 

"I want to see those gigantic pigeons. I could bring my camera and take pictures of them along the way!! Look, look at how she moves her neck. Cute!!"

“We really should bike over that trail." Xiaojun heard some faint little slick sounds afterwards that could only mean they were making out and he legitly moved at least four steps away from it. "-but I don’t think that’s a pigeon. I mean, it’s too big.”

“OH, well!" There was a light thump there and Xiaojun could only assume Jaemin hit the other's shoulder. "Enlighten me, you master of birds. What do you think it is?”

“That was an Oystercatcher. They reside near the beach.” The man commented casually, as a matter of fact. “Oh my god, don’t look at me like that! My uncle is obsessed with birds so I’m usually on the receiving end of his rants."

Then Xiaojun heard Jaemin giggling as the other kept complaining, apparently jabbing Jaemin so he would stop making fun of him. 

They were seriously so cute it hurt.

To his utter demise, the wet noises were back and he suddenly found himself torned between two possible reactions. The first one would be the prospect of simply leaving the house behind and giving up on his career as an artist, whereas the second one would be to simply tell them he could hear and he wasn't trying to but he did anyway and it felt wrong. Yeah, a little less dramatic than the former.

Luckily, he didn't have to choose.

"DEJUN!" He heard Renjun scream at the top of his lungs. "I CAN'T FIND THE DOCS." Which was his cue to approach his about-to-die friend no matter what.

The only negative thing was that he had to pass by the couple in the living room to reach Renjun's bedroom. Oh, how life hated him.

Fearful, he tried to sneak towards Renjun as silently as humanly possible, yet when he got to the living room it was impossible for Jaemin's head not to snap towards him in less than a second.

"S-sorry for the intrusion." He said for the third time that day, after having spotted the duo now cuddling closer, facing the TV. 

"Yah! Xiaojun, any friend of that little devil is a friend of the house!!! Stop being so formal with us!" Jaemin babbled as his boyfriend nodded with a little smile. 

Xiaojun thought he legitly could die out of how handsome they both were, fundamentally when they were cuddling on a sofa and smiling up at him.

"Okay." He ended up saying while trying to smile. Then he rushed into Renjun's bedroom after bowing, once again, knowing well how his classmate might have already been deceased because of how long he was taking to go help.

After having spotted the Docs saved in a random folder (sleep deprived issues, Xiaojun presumed) and added it to their final project, they still had fifteen minutes and three actual blocks to run towards their campus. Guessed they were gonna make it in the end. 

"Hey, before you go!" Jaemin called for them right after they opened the door to leave. "My cousins are throwing a party this weekend! I would love to see you there, Xiaojun." Jaemin provided one bright, immaculate smile that Xiaojun found charming this time, no longer intimidating.

And just when he opened his mouth to answer, Renjun was already speaking up.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. You know how Sungchan and Jungwoo's parties can get." His classmate shook his head as he spoke. "I won't let you corrupt my angel of a friend, just like that. Not when you've already corrupted poor Jeno."

"Hey! Jeno was already corrupted when I met him!" Jaemin whined, tapping his fingers over the Jeno boy, beside him. "Anyway-" He turned to Xiaojun again. "Renjun likes to be grumpy about it but he always enjoys their parties a lot. You can even invite Lucas in case you feel lonely there." 

In comeback, Renjun just opened and closed his mouth like a fish about to suffocate to death and Xiaojun feared that at this point it could happen. Yet it wasn’t so bad, because Renjun then aimed a smile at him, not entirely flustered by Jamin's raw attempts. 

If only Jaemin knew Renjun and Lucas had been seeing each other after class for about a week now. 

"Thank you Jaemin!! I'll be there." He bowed again, unintentionally and still formally as Jaemin snickered, Jeno waved and Renjun grabbed his hands, dragging him toward hell.

  
  
  


Jaemin saw the way Renjun got flustered and ran away alongside his lovely classmate. 

The door closed with a soft clic, leaving them in silence that was only disturbed by the background sounds of the TV. More specifically, by a documentary about cyclists around the world they had been watching.

"So...Would you say you have corrupted me?" 

"Oh, shut up. Renjun loves to make me look like I'm a bad influence. And I might be, but Donghyuck is the worst out of us three and that's the reality." Jaemin smiled wickedly, pressing one leg between Jeno's.

"Mmm, not so sure about that." His boyfriend hummed playfully as he placed his hand on his waist, bringing their bodies even closer. With his eyes closed he leaned into Jaemin, pecking his lips softly.

"I'd love to travel with you." Jeno said when Jaemin started brushing his knee over his crotch, lightly and teasingly like he liked doing things.

"Then we should do it." He complied, letting Jeno take the lead as he pinned him against the couch with his hands, now nibbling at his neck.

"Why are you so pretty, Nana?" Jeno stopped momentarily to look at him, then looking at his chest, at his belly, legs, looking at every part of him with such tenderness Jaemin feared dying, again.

"Y-you're pretty, too." After that, it only took a second for Jeno to go up and kiss him straight on his lips.

“Oh, wait. Wait. Don’t touch me there! It tickles!” Jeno squirmed above him as Jaemin laughed with malice, jabbing at Jeno’s ribs without a stop. 

And if they would have been a little less immersed in each other’s laughs and games, they might have heard the front doors opening again. But they didn’t.

"Gosh! Get a room!" Donghyuck shrieked on the doorway, ungracefully throwing his backpack over a chair by the table. "Anyway, hi, I brought cake for breakfast. I'll share it with you two if you don't ask where I've been and stop kissing like teenagers. It's gross." 

"Hi, Hyuckie." Jaemin smiled, not entirely embarrassed like Jeno was. "Deal." He added later as he pecked his boyfriend’s cheek one last time before standing up. "Wanna eat?"

"Yup." Jeno nodded, standing up too and the both of them directed themselves towards the table where Donghyuck had left the cake.

Without being asked to, Jeno rummaged through his kitchen drawers, setting spoons and plates on the table, only to then gaze expectantly at him. 

There was something about the motion that made Jaemin's heart warm, not only because his boyfriend seemed to feel at home, casual as if he lived there, but also because of how well he blended there with his friends. With his life.

"Do you know what your best friend did today?" Donghyuck was suddenly serving a slice of cake in each plate, looking at Jeno with the same energy a fifty-year-old lady about to drink tea and gossip would. "He is unbelievable, really…" He kept on ranting about something Mark had done, Jaemin simply assumed, since he wasn't really listening anymore.

And how could he, when he was staring at his boyfriend politely listening to the messy chatterbox that was Donghyuck violently eating cake. How could he…when his boyfriend would occasionally glance up at him to give him that bright beam that could lighten the most dark and gloomy of nights.

Jaemin, then, thought there were certain things bound to happen for infinite reasons. They could happen because of fate, the universe or his mom. And for the very first time he was actually glad about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, first of all and as usual, thank you from the very bottom of my heart if you made it through the whole story!! English is not my native language and I know what I write gets weird sometimes (More specifically now that I'm trying to improve my English ahaha).
> 
> I'd also like to mention my beta readers because I really don't know what would've happened if they didn't encourage and comment their opinions with such willingness. They are always really helpful and sweet, so yeah. Mir and Elle, thanks thanks thanks. And Cata, too. ALSO Elle is currently writing an incredible MAKE UP COMPETITION AU (Do I need to say more?) so you might like to check out her story!! Her user is @Multi_Elle 💕
> 
> And to sum up, I will tell you that this is not over djahseifeñ. Even though from the very beginning I wanted this to be a two shot, I FAILED TO MY OWN SELF and I'm currently working on the epilogue for this biking AU I liked and enjoyed writing a lot (Because I kinda love biking with all my heart, and I kinda love nct with all my heart too.)
> 
> Anyway, see you next chapter if you liked it, and again, thanks for reading or commenting~ Stay safe y'all!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! Thanks for tuning in to the epilogue (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ  
> Hope you enjoy it a lot~

_ ~ _

_ “My name is Gabriel Midlin. I’m a physicist. My job was once to study the chaotic wobble of one of Saturn's satellites. Now I’m researching what goes on in the mind and body of a bird when they sing.” _

Jeno felt his stomach doing that weird flip that caused his lungs and guts and...overall organs to get shocked by an electric, sudden wave. It wasn’t a sensation that was unbeknown to him, actually, but as he grew up and stopped being an overly shy teenager he convinced himself he had reached somewhat immunity to that feeling.

Well, breaking news for him: there had always been, and there will certainly always be room for embarrassment within him. Most remarkably and likely when he was accompanied by his uncle’s pleasing presence.

_ "The brain of birds is something that neurosciences study in depth. Half of the birds are born not knowing how to sing. They need to learn it from others-”  _

Turning to his side while trying not to look up and call everyone's attention, he casted an eye on his hands holding closely onto Jaemin’s. He spotted some fainted veins popping out from the milky skin below his fingertips; Fingertips that were clasping his boyfriend’s hand for dear life as if he wanted to melt into the other or something. In fact, both hands were intermingled as if they wanted to be one. And in a sense, that was just a silly manner that portrayed how their relationship had been in general during the past few months.

A soft squish reminded him of the current situation, or rather, his current uncomfort. Now looking up at the screen, he felt an impish grin hovering over his side and he didn’t even need to turn to acknowledge just how much Jaemin was enjoying this.

Over the couch beside them laid down that thirty-something bird enthusiast that went by the name of Lee Taemin, also known as his uncle and only close relative in town since his mother, sister, nephew and brother-in-law were on a holiday in Japan. His uncle was enthralled by the guy speaking on TV as he chewed popcorn with little to none grace.

_ “-That is, what neurons light up and in what order. It is well known that sleep plays a very important role in learning and that’s why neuronal activity is measured not only as a bird sings but also in their sleep-”  _

Why did his uncle have to be like that? 

“Uncle…” He dared to speak, only to be instantly shushed by the two other people in the room. Of course one shush had been legitimate and the other had been sarcastic, it’s up to you to guess which one was which. 

Against his self preservation he turned to the side, spotting a beyond amused Jaemin. Guess Jeno's awkwardness was, indeed, his boyfriend’s fuel in some way. Renjun hadn’t been mistaken. “...Maybe Jaemin doesn’t care  _ that _ much about birds, uncle.” 

The older, whose eyes had been excruciatingly glued to the TV the second they took their seats, hummed and gazed at them for the first time. Peeking through his soft, black-as-raven bangs he first glanced at Jaemin, then at him with glazed eyes. 

“Minnie, do you not care about birds?” He inquired casually, eyebrows held close in an attempt to look hurt. “Or is it just your boyfriend who wants to leave already?”

“I’m inclined to think it’s the latter.” Jaemin provided his sweetest, innocent smile and Jeno wanted to get mad for being made fun of, but his huff was as fake as Mark’s ‘not-crush’ on Donghyuck. “But-” Jaemin made a pause, smiling up at the TV where the physicist was still talking.

_ “-So the bird can keep a calm breathing rhythm at night. The bird dreams of singing, but quietly.”  _

Consequently, the guy talking on TV got silent, listening closely as some default, rather artificial birds chirped loud.

It wasn’t that Jeno was embarrassed by the topic of the ted talk; it was actually quite an interesting thing to be talking about, but the expression the guy made as he spoke was really akin to his uncle when he ranted about cuckoos and its varied family for the entire afternoon. Very much what happened that same afternoon.

It goes without saying: Taemin was a part of the population whose life was undeniably ruled by birds to the point it was a little ridiculous. And oddly embarrassing for Jeno.

“-But it’s actually getting late and tomorrow's gonna be a long day. By the way are you coming, Taemin-nim?” His boyfriend resumed speaking with tact, his smile much more honest and sweeter than before. Jeno literally felt his insides twist and crumble again and he felt, too, the urge to kiss him. Yeah, but not right there in front of his weird uncle. (Weird in the best sense ever, Jeno made a brief pause to make that important mental note.)

“Oh, no. I’m sorry, Jaemin! I had already made plans to go sightsee some cute Albatrosses at the beach with Jinki.” His uncle stood up, placing the popcorn on the coffee table and promptly turning around. “But I got you both a present to make up for my absence.” 

Jaemin perked up upon hearing those words and turned to Jeno with shimmering eyes, almost letting little glittery sparkles come out of his excited gaze.

And alright. Jeno got it. He had actually known since the very first day their paths crossed in the bike shop, probably the very first time their eyes met. He knew Jaemin was utterly precious, gentle, and adorable in so many levels and ways he would have a hard time trying to explain them if he tried. So, he internally decided not to use words; his boyfriend’s strengths were visible to anyone who had had the smallest interaction with him anyway. 

In a second his uncle was back with a single black medium-sized cardboard box that he extended to Jaemin with a wide smile. They opened the box together, coming to face its contents with gaping mouths and thankful grins. Taemin was insane for this.

“These are the best binoculars for birding I could find in the whole city.” Well, indeed. They looked  _ exquisite _ to Jeno, who had a decent amount of information on the matter. “Wide field of view and super light to carry with its cute little lanyard. Also, they have HD and ED lenses, meaning that you’ll be able to catch the smallest of details, even if weather conditions or the lightning are not the best.” Taemin gushed excitedly and brightly, preposterous only the way he could. “I hope you enjoy them!” 

“Thank you a lot, uncle!” He could only mumble, not really having expected him to give them anything. It was kinda thoughtful of him, as Jeno had once told him he found binoculars cool on one of their many camping nights they shared in the forest. “We will give them great use.” 

“We will, definitely!” Jaemin emphasized and bowed with respect, impossibly softer. “Thank you Taemin-nim.”

“Yah! It’s nothing. Now go, I’m missing my show.” His uncle accompanied them towards the door and said goodbye with that simple smile that had a faint vestige of fatherhood in it. Jeno never failed to notice it and he always thought highly of it, of the care that entailed and implied one simple, yet necessary smile.

“Take great care of yourselves, kids! When you’re back you come visit and tell me everything! Show me the pics!” was the last thing they heard before the door was closed and they were out into the night.  
  


Outside the air was chiller than when they got into the building. The front yard was significantly covered with dew, making it all humid and cold but still pleasant to step into. After all, autumn had just begun, the air wasn’t precisely cold yet. There was a mild smell of petrichor mixed with the breeze, which could only mean it had been drizzling for some time, at some point. Briefly, Jeno inhaled deeply, taking it in.

A look towards Jaemin told him he was acknowledging the same thing, while they both adjusted their helmets and got their bikes ready. A quiet hum and a light pout on the other’s end later were clear enough of a confirmation to understand that Jaemin was starting to get the same little worry as him.

It couldn’t rain. The weather forecast had enticed them with the prospect of sunny days ahead and Jeno’s expectatives for the next few weeks were more than high. Higher than high, placed it in some way. There were probably gonna be some mishaps along the way for sure, but rain on the first day felt like the least delightful possibility of them all. It simply couldn’t rain.

“Yah, I don’t think it’ll rain, hun. Stop being such a worrywart.”

As if he could actually hear his anxious thoughts, his boyfriend reassured aloud, seemingly not only directing his words at Jeno but his own self too.

In less than a second, Jaemin's hands were suddenly dangling from his neck, making them lean into each other with their lips meeting somewhere in the middle. It was the slightest of pecks; but Jeno felt the prickle of something down his spine, like chill embers progressively lightening up, aiming to spread all over him.

“I know it’s gonna be alright.” The other continued and Jeno smiled with his eyes shut, feeling his insides churn and a handful of insects throwing up on his guts. It didn’t matter how used to being by Jaemin’s side he was, the joy he felt with him seemed to have no limits or expiration date. 

Jeno was so, so stupidly in love.

And Jaemin was right. It was gonna be alright.

“I know.” Jeno responded after a deadbeat of silence, bumping their helmets together and hearing the popping sound it made as they giggled like the idiots they were. “Shall we go to my dorm or to yours today?”

“Well, since you’re a dumbass and as far as I recall you left your toothbrush on Renjun’s desk for some unknown reason, I’d say we go to mine. I’d rather not share my toothbrush with you  _ again _ , my love.” Jaemin mused with not only delight, but also mockery on his tone. 

By now, Jeno had already gotten used to that sarcastic part of Jaemin  − and their friends’. He even had gotten the gist of it, or at least something like that.

“Fuck off.” He was aware of how he held Jaemin’s waist a tad closer as he said so, or how he stared into the younger’s mouth while not even trying to repress his smile or giggle or utter adoration. “And in my defense, Renjun’s desk is the only place that looks clean in the entire dorm! He has cute scented candles, you know.” 

“You take that back!” Jaemin gasped on his arms, stunned. “I’m as clean as a shining bald head in the morning, as a baby just gotten out of shower, as a-” 

“I won’t take it back if I reach your dorm first!” Jeno mid-yelled then, letting go of the other’s waist with a fluid motion, riding his bike and swiftly biking away.

“HAH? THAT’S CHEATING JENO. WAIT FOR ME!” He could hear Jaemin fumbling from behind and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud. He tried to, because it was already night and they would probably disturb his uncle’s neighbourhood but he literally couldn’t. Just another side effect of being by Jaemin’s side, he noticed, as his laugh got stronger the farthest apart from the building he got.

And as they cycled like crazy back to one of their two homes  − because at this point there wasn’t one night they didn’t sleep together − , Jeno knew it actually didn’t matter if it rained or not, or if some hitch tried to make its way into their carefully planned out dreams. Because at the end of the day, they still had each other to rely on.

~

Mangwon Hangang park was his favourite place in the entire world. And even though he hadn’t, actually, been to many places in the world, Jeno just knew there was no other place he would address the same way.

In that specific park he rode his first bike at the age of five, with his father jogging beside him and his mother sitting on a bench by the end of the road, watching his sister skate. Ten steady seconds on it were enough for him to fall in love with the activity, to start laughing like crazy and screaming ‘mom look at me! Look at me riding without stabilisers!’ until the road turned left and he realized he didn’t know how to do that. It hadn’t been that bad to cry over his dad’s shoulder for his unfortunate fall because when his mom finally approached them she put a spiderman bandit on his knee with gentle care, and as soon as he could tell he was ready to try to ride the bike again. 

After that, he found himself having many of his firsts in there, many turning points that had been decisive to convey whoever person he got to be now. 

He went on his first meeting with Mark and the boys there, had his first kiss there, and fell in love with Jaemin there. Jeno vividly remembered that last scene since it had been so clear, so undeniable and obvious that he had to contain himself from suddenly confessing. He remembered having seen Jaemin playing with a Samoyed dog after they trained for the whole afternoon. He remembered talking with a child and a man and how warm he felt because of the whole situation.

He remembered having seen Jaemin and thought he couldn’t be more in love with him. 

It's unbelievable how one tends to underestimate the  _ intensity _ of feelings, really, because in the end time had proven he certainly could fall deeper for Jaemin every single day, with every single shared moment. And even when they didn't share moments and he was in class, Jeno still fell deeper somehow. That probably underlined just how gone he was for Jaemin.

“JENO-AH!” Jaemin whined, very similarly to his 3-year-old nephew throwing a tantrum. “Come help meeeeee! You can space out later!”

“Yeah, sorry babe.” He got back from that idyllic place inside his memories that he ended up frequenting a lot these days  − he blamed it on the last reminiscents of summer nostalgia − and helped Jaemin extend the immense picnic blanket they got from his uncle. 

Said blanket had to comfortably fit all of their friends, which were no less than around 15 people. Yup.

Seconds later, both him and Jaemin stood before the extended blanket over the lawn and threw the few cushions on it. It looked like they would hardly fit one Lucas and one Johnny in there. Maybe some Renjuns and Donghyucks if they squished themselves enough. 

This could be subtly translated to: they seriously needed some backup blankets. 

Honestly, they should have been expecting it. Miscalculations happened all the time within them. In essence, neither Jaemin nor him were good at putting two and two together and that had been established the day Jaemin confessed he thought he was dating Doyoung in a first instance, causing him to distance himself and make Jeno think Jaemin didn’t like him back. 

What a pair of idiots they had been, really. Their friends always made sure to remind them how lame their pining had been for the entire world, apparently, but Jeno wouldn’t change any of it. They reached their current relationship because of those decisions, so it didn't really matter whether they were stupid or not. They simply were and he was so glad it had been like that.

Well, maybe Jaemin willingly biking into a tree was actually stupid and overall dangerous for his health and Jeno would've prefered him not doing it. But at the same time...he felt low-key flattered over how incoherently far Jaemin could go just for him. Not that he would ever say that aloud, even less encourage such behaviour, but that's what rested deep down on his thoughts and feelings.

"I guess some blankets are missing." Jaemin let out an airy giggle as Jeno nodded sheepishly, already having accepted defeat.

The first ones to arrive were Mark, Johnny, Ten and Jaehyun. They greeted them with an elation that was beyond expected, so Jeno could only match them in excitement. And what was even better: Johnny brought a handful of blankets with him in the car, knowing well how those might have been lacking. Jeno thought he could hug him with how accurate that prediction had been and threw a reassuring grin towards his boyfriend to celebrate their silent triumph.

But Jaemin was, to no one’s surprise, already immersed in some kind of banter with Jaehyun, talking about something that regarded their mom. It surely stirred wonders inside Jeno. 

The day he met Jaemin’s family was another turning point in his life, some months ago during christmas holidays. It had snowed hard and they took a train together to Jaemin’s previous household, nervous from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. Three and half hours later they were already in Busan, greeting Jaemin’s parents on a windy train station in the open. 

After having met Miss Na, well, Jeno understood where his boyfriend’s flair for the dramatics came from.

In the end it had been such a fun festivity, meeting Jaemin’s house as if he was facing a treasure of anecdotes, one worth of appreciation and his interest. Tons of questions were asked and other tons of stories were told. It was really sweet.

However, on his part Jaemin couldn’t really say the same. Trying to stop his mom from prying too much into Jeno’s life was a tough activity, a very spiritually draining one. And in retrospect, Jeno probably should have intervened because he didn’t mind that much. His mother-in-law wasn’t so nosy and loved him the second he smiled politely and sweetly when they got out of the train. She was lovely to him, way much more than she was to her own sons. 

“I just don’t know why she has to call every two minutes.” Jaemin was massaging his temples, while Jaehyun and Johnny snickered on his side like the immature adults they were.

“She just wants to make sure you’ll be fine.” Ten reassured with a wave of his hands. “Just pick up her call, make sure you agree with whatever she says and then pass the phone to me. She’s always up for some updates.”

With a little smile, Jeno nodded towards Jaemin as if thinking that was a good idea, while extending the extra blankets over the floor. Even though he could understand her because his own mom was nervous too, Miss Na had been calling Jaemin three times a day for a week now. She was worried as hell and Jaemin had already lost his patience on the third day of repeating that he and Jeno were ready and would be perfectly fine. 

Thankfully, since Ten had quite the bond with her mother-in-law, that offer seemed like a perfect plan. Also, Ten was always excited to talk about home renovations, so no one was really harmed out of it.

As if summoned by the current argument in the group, Jaemin’s phone started beeping loudly. It was Miss Na’s carefully chosen music tone by Jaemin: a dark evil laugh. (Yes, Jeno didn’t understand that either, don’t worry.) After a collective look between everyone present and a dramatic sigh, Jaemin picked up his phone and took the call at least ten steps away from them. 

And while Jeno admired his boyfriend's silhouette motioning with his free hand with ease into the air, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. It was Mark.

“I’M SO HAPPY THIS IS HAPPENING!” In a minute his best friend was all over him, hugging him so hard they fell back on the floor and out of the carefully displayed blankets. “I’m going to miss you so much, bro!” 

“Mark he’s only leaving for some weeks, maybe a month.” Johnny humored his brother while he pet Ten’s soft locks on his lap. Jaehyun was also leaning into him but from behind, with his chin supported by his broad shoulder. 

“I know but he’s not only my roomie now, he’s always been my coworker at the shop.” Mark voiced with a cute pout on his lips. “I got used to being with him all day.”

And Jeno could assure the same thing too. Since his previous roommate moved to another country he was left alone and the rent was kinda difficult to pay on his own. So when Mark had stumbled into the bike shop with dark circles under his eyes, muttering under his breath about how loud Jaehyun and Ten were at night, Jeno didn’t have to think twice to offer him a way out of there. According to Mark’s glassy, hopeful eyes when he heard the offer, Jeno could tell what type of ‘loud’ they were being, if you know what he means.

“Well, it’s good to know Mark’s still an emotional wimp somewhat.” Jeno heard someone say from behind them. 

Looking upside down from the floor, he was met with not only Renjun’s smirk but also a whole gang behind following close. The chinese boy was brushing shoulders with this super tall man called Lucas, a model from Renjun’s artsy classes. Jaemin had told him they were dating because he was a gossipy 50-year-old lady of the neighbourhood that knew no boundaries, but Jeno hadn’t been told that by Renjun himself so he always tried not to show he knew. 

On their side stood Xiaojun, his super cute classmate and friend whom Jaemin and him loved for apparently no reason. Some things were like that, unexplainable. That was it until they caught the shy boy singing in Renjun’s bedroom one day, making all their love and admiration gain sense. Xiaojun sang like the angel he was; harmoniously and simply pleasing to the ear. 

And lastly but definitely not least, some steps behind stood Jisung − who was Jaemin’s friend from bakery class− and freshly incorporated into the group, Chenle, who had ended up joining their group by chance.

“Junnie!” Jeno stood up and greeted the new incomers, trying to show how much he appreciated them joining his and Jaemin’s goodbye party. “Please, make yourselves comfortable guys!”

“Hi! We brought Chimaek.” Lucas exhaled excitedly, while Chenle and Jisung sat on the blanket and greeted the boys already there. At that precise moment Jaemin walked back to the picnic, but not alone. He came back with two of Jeno’s favourite hyungs in tow, already smiling proudly at him.

“BABY JENO, I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS.” Doyoung approached him while still being attached to his husband’s hand, making this latter end up mildly sandwiched into the hug.

“Hun, stop. You’re going to suffocate us.” Taeyong said softly and Jeno himself lightened the firm grip on his hyungs he didn’t quite remember having started.

“You came!” Was the little murmur he aimed to express, weirdly sensitive at the sight of Taeyong and Doyoung in front of him. 

Throughout the years they took different roles for him in a lot of ways and Jeno was beyond grateful because of that. Sometimes they were like real older brothers, sometimes like fathers and some other times professional seniors that helped him gain confidence in himself. Their bond was precious to him.

“How could we not?” Douyoung said, emphasizing every word as if he couldn’t conceive that reality as a possibility. He was always really dramatic, maybe that was why he and Jaemin got along extremely well now. 

After some minutes in which they settled everything down and organized the food, everyone fell into casual chatting, catching up with each other or getting to know new people. It wasn’t that usual to gather all of their friends in just one place and while Jeno had been worried it would end up with a fire in the park or some disaster like that, it was going pretty smoothly and nicely so far.

His classmate and first college friend, Yeeun, came in with slightly pinkish cheeks and sat right beside him quietly, zoning out with her eyes lost in the river whenever he spoke with someone else. Jeno knew the effort she must have made to be there, as she was extremely shy and being surrounded by an unknown group of males wasn’t the best escenario for her comfort. However, the second she spotted Taeyong  − their college senior and mentor − she clung to him for dear life. And Jeno finally relaxed a little bit too.

There was yachae kimbap and dosirak to eat, aside from the chimaek that was delicious, so he was really enjoying himself. But then, looking at the vast variety of food displayed over the plates in the blankets, he came to a halt.

“Guys, where’s Hyuckie?” 

He was met with deadass silence, all of them looking at one another with blank stares. 

Most of the guys knew Donghyuck and liked his antics enough to bear with him and look forward to meeting him in any group situation. After all, he always knew how to set a lighthearted mood alongside Johnny, who was too invested in his boyfriends right now to try to include everyone in the conversation and break the ice. 

Jaemin checked his phone with his eyebrows furrowed close. Donghyuck wasn’t really someone who missed events or didn’t text when there was a change of plans, so they started collectively worrying, until a cracked hum resounded in the open. It didn’t take a genius to acknowledge who emitted those broken-chicken sounds.

“Um. Don’t worry, guys! He couldn’t find that leather jacket he really likes, have you seen that one he wore last Saturday? The black one with the flower patterns on it. Well, that one. The one that suits him a lot. Well, I told him he should rush and actually tidy that messed up wardrobe of his someday but he didn’t listen to me...Anyway haha, I’m ranting. Point is he already took the bus, and I said we were running out of Chimaek already so he will be here like, real, real soon.”

The new silence that settled after that weird and very Mark-like blabbery ranged with a lot of different colours and undertones. Jaehyun smiled with fondness, showing his soft spot for his brother-in-law for once. On his side, Johnny was about to roast Mark like he had never before, according to his stunning smirk. Jeno could actually imagine the horns growing right there at both sides of his head, it was a little scary. Before them, Jaemin looked surprised to the same extent Renjun did. 

Jeno's guess would be that Donghyuck was harder to read than Mark was, because where he knew they had been officially dating for a week now, Jaemin and Renjun looked confused and as if they were having a fierce telepathic conversation between roommates. 

Then, when the moment was broken by Johnny’s loud snort, a faint yell from the distance could be heard on cue. The whole gang turned to it, only to be blessed by the rare and definitely iconic sight of Donghyuck almost tripping with a bench at the other end of the park, running like he was in the midst of the Olympics.

“SAVE SOME CHIMAEK FOR ME GUYS.” He yelled at the top of his lungs, making everyone in there burst into laughter as he approached fast and forwards, landing right into Jaemin’s open arms. “SORRY FOR BEING LATE MINNIE, GIMMIE CHICKEN.” 

They kept on laughing even when Donghyuck had calmed down and was already eating, not without first leaving a soft peck on Mark’s lips, right in front of everyone. That, of course, had led to a fragment of second to turn motionless until someone laughed again and they all resumed their chit-chat. It had taken Mark and Donghyuck too much time to get their shit together to comment on it now, even less make fun of them. 

“Okay so, are you gonna keep beating around the bush? Or are you actually gonna tell us the whole thing?” Renjun asked casually, while Xiaojun nodded brightly by his side. 

“Wait, no. We ran out of beer!!” Lucas made a puppy dog pout and Renjun rolled his eyes hard, looking away. By now, Jeno knew by Jaemin’s specific daily analysis about their friend’s relationships that that gesture meant Renjun was flustered. Yes,  _ a roll of his eyes _ . Unexplainable. “Can you wait to tell us the details ‘till I’m back from the store nearby? I can bring more snacks, too.” 

“Yeah, of course. There are still people missing, anyway.” Jaemin informed while checking out his phone for a notification. He looked up and Jeno couldn’t fail to notice a slight sparkle of uneasiness on his eyes. He really wanted them to come. “They always arrive late, really. So, yeah, take your time.”

“Royalty is never late to a party. If anything, everyone came a little bit too early.” A magically just materialized Jungwoo said out of the blue, flapping his white feather boa over his shoulders with his flawless and energetic motions full on display. “Right, bro?”

“Right.” Sungchan nodded, and high fived his brother in the air.

“Oh my god, you look terrible!” Jaemin exhaled while giving his special, bright honey smile towards his cousins, who had silently approached the group. “Seriously, yesterday must have been wild!”

During those months and a significant amount of extreme parties experienced, Jeno got to know that Jaemin really admired his cousins. While Jaehyun kept a safe distance of the queer underground fairies, Jaemin seemed to be completely enticed by their late night activities in drag shows and daily ones at the theatre. 

“Yeah, we know and yeah, it was! Hi, guys!” Sungchan greeted the entire group with a spotless grin, even daring to send a flirty wink towards Yeeun, who was holding onto Taeyon’s arm like a child to their father would. Jeno contained a little giggle over the sight of Yeeun turning bright tomato red because of Jaemin's cousin. 

“We brought some beers.” Jungwoo stated after having sent flying kisses to everyone. “[Hangover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkMNOlYcpHg) killers.” He shook them with a little grin and extended one to Lucas as they bumped fists.

“Thanks, guys. We were just about to get more. Make yourselves comfortable!” Jeno motioned with his hands for them to sit, failing to mask a laugh when he took a better look at the duo. 

Both Sungchan and Jungwoo were wearing sunglasses. One of their most classic and overused methods to hide the leftovers of what Jeno could only imagine was a pretty savage party, like all of the parties they held or participated in were. Jungwoo was wearing a black skirt with a tight white shirt adorned with black patterns, making him look oddly demure. On his shoulders rested the white boa and on his ears, some bright earrings were dangling, which certainly erased some traces of demureness, transforming them into a most accurate Jungwoo’s aesthetic: extravaganza. On his side, Sungchan went for something more casual, as per usual. He was wearing a plain white tee and tight ripped jeans. However, on his hands there was an incessant amount of sparkling rings on each finger. A subtle, yet quaint touch that clearly made him part of the Na family. 

“So, why are you literally wrecked this time?” Donghycuk asked, as interested in the queer duo as Jaemin was. 

“We were in this club you know, ‘Fairytale’ I think it’s called, trying to speak with this beautiful human being that I haven’t got the singlest clue of what they are.” Jungwoo spoke in one breath, clearly excited.

“Does it matter at this point?” It was Sungchan asking him, taking a bite of one of the last fried chickens on the plate.

“Of course not, like at all. Anyway, I saw them perform some times and I just really want to hang out with them, but not creep them out by saying 'I'm completely enticed by your beauty and grace'. So, I’m simply making eye contact when they perform. Their name is ‘Sunshine’.” Jungwoo explained and everyone nodded. Well, everyone who was listening, Chenle and Jisung were like, in their own world pointing at a huge dog playing with a frisbee nearby.

“And I was simply  _ dragged _ into that. Not puns intended.” Sungchan voiced under his breath, causing everyone to snort and in some other lesser cases, giggle. 

They kept on updating each other’s life until the previous topic of conversation came up again, this time brought by Mark.

“Well, it’s really not that crazy. It's just a trip.” Jeno explained, his tone laced with the modesty his partner lacked most of the time.

“630 KM!”Jaemin yelled with both hands extended in the air, still sitting cross-legged like a kid. Jeno felt his insides coo over the sight. “The entire length of the four rivers of South Korea! By bike!!” His motions got bigger as he spoke and so did Jeno’s adoration for him.

“No way! What? Really?” Jaehyun, who was probably the one with the least information about the trip, suddenly gasped in between excitement and worry. “I mean...I get why mom’s been extra worried.”

“It’s okay. We’ve been training quite hard these past months, right baby?” Jaemin asked, making Jeno choke on his own spit.

Under no circumstances Jaemin’s sultry tone of voice should have been legal, like ever. Not even within their intimacy. But right now that they were in front of all their friends, Jeno thought someone should call the firefighters to come and bring some decency into the chat, with their fire hoses on and an entire water tank solely aimed at Jaemin’s horny alter ego. 

Seriously, why didn’t his boyfriend have at least a vague remnant of shame in him? Jeno questioned himself with cheeks flushing, the second half of the group snickered over Jaemin’s bluntness.

“There’s a bike museum along the way. It was specifically made just for cyclists all around the world to know. There are all sorts of bikes from all over history!” Jaemin kept on explaining with an unusual glint in his eyes. While looking at it, Jeno actually forgot about his previous frustration because his boyfriend looked happy. 

And how did Jeno know that, you might be wondering. Well, because Jaemin never stood out when they hung around with a group of people. Actually, he didn’t quite talk when they hung around with anyone other than Renjun, Donghyuck, Mark or Jisung. So, that bright, loud and openly excited way he talked about the trip to literally sixteen people made Jeno’s heart twist again. “And we’re going to go there! Isn’t that cool? You can only reach the place by bike, since the road is car-free of course! And there's a wooden bike for Jeno to analyze. It's really old and well...made of wood, duh!"

“That sounds so romantic.” Xiaojun coed with glassy eyes and Jeno felt the urge to grin. These people were dangerously cute and he was just a boy, a mechanic, a cyclist if you please. How can he deal with Jaemin, Xiaojun, and Mark at the same time, at the same place? Forget about it, Jeno was extra soft and he didn’t care about showing it. He was too happy to mask his feelings.

“Remind me again, when did you become such a nerd, Minnie?” Donghyuck asked with an actual sweet expression, to which Jaemin instantly responded with a blank, defiant stare.

“Might have been when you started dating a cute boy and forgot to tell our household about it.” 

At those sassy words, Renjun nodded frantically while saying “That’s called betrayal in our dictionary!” while Mark mumbled a soft “Wait. Me? You think I'm cute? Hey, thanks.”

“Touché.” Johnny giggled upon seeing Donghyuck’s momentarily shocked expression, and everyone was laughing again. Donghyuck was really the mood-setter of the group, even if he didn’t even try. 

Everyone laughed except for Jungwoo, who could have been asleep for all Jeno knew because he was kinda motionless, sunglasses still on. That was it until he sluggishly opened his mouth.

“Did you just say 630 KM?” Jaemin’s cousin was beyond startled.

“I kinda said that like two hours ago, Woowoo dear!” Jaemin’s retaliation was always clever, but happiness seemed to brighten and sharpen every aspect of him. Even his witty retorts. 

“Waw, you guys are insane!” Lucas was the one amazed now, holding onto Renjun’s hand while mumbling to him “Hey, we should try to do that someday.”

“Never in a million years would I expose myself to that much physical activity. I’d rather bid farewell to this bland human world.” Renjun rolled his eyes, to which Donghyuck agreed and raised his can of beer in the air, silently proposing a toast.

“For these weirdos’s trip!” He said and everyone slurred loudly whatever the hell they felt like saying to them. And although it felt like an indistinguishable mess of words, one thing was clear: everyone wished them something really, really beautiful. Thus, sappy.

~ 

The second they left their bikes in the building’s garage, Jeno felt like his body was ready to drop. One look to his side confirmed Jaemin was in the exact same state. Good thing they packed their luggage way ahead of their parting date. Otherwise they’d be really screwed now. 

One swift movement of the elevator later and they were both entering Jeno’s dorm, as neat and clean as ever. Jaemin made his way directly into the bathroom without hesitation and didn’t even bother to close the door, minding his own business in the comfort of their home. 

Simply standing in his living room and feeling his body complaining, Jeno just observed Jaemin removing his shirt, discarding it in the laundry basket he had assured him he could some weeks ago. It was actually the first time he was doing it, Jeno thought, as the other proceeded to wash his face with so much delicacy it was almost funny. 

Jaemin had some specific habits that always made Jeno ascend. Sure, everyone had habits and probably everyone was specific about them, but the fact that Jaemin let him catch them was what felt special. He would notice them all the time these days, like right now that Jaemin stared at himself in the mirror with the intensity of someone immersed in a swimming pool of thoughts unbeknown to the outside world, just known to his own self. Jaemin only wore that look whenever he brushed his teeth, not when he washed his face or applied micellar water before sleeping every night. Just when he brushed his teeth. 

When Jeno snapped out of it Jaemin wasn’t at sight anymore. The shower was on, steam making its way from the open door towards the hallway which made him briefly imagine Mark’s annoyance at the slightly humid dorm. 

With a grin he entered the bathroom, closing the door to address his presence there. Jaemin’s silhouette over the curtain didn’t flinch in the slightest, he just kept massaging his scalp without thought. After a minute of silence, he hummed, making Jeno snap out of whatever trance his boyfriend could only put him under everytime he caught a glimpse of his actions. 

“Nana?”

Jaemin hummed sleepily again but this time he peeked through the curtain to look at him. His eyes were a little red, hooded, and on his face, there was a single wet strand of fringe falling over his nose he didn't bother to remove. Jeno confirmed he was too tired to even speak. 

“I love you.” 

It wasn’t that well modulated. He was just so tired too, but the look Jaemin gave him made it clear that he heard. And he was surprised.

Without really thinking he got closer, as slow as if he had the entire time on his hands and left a peck on Jaemin’s wet cheek in the same soft way. After that he retracted back to his spot and opened the door, ready to go faint on his bed without even showering. Just faint and sleep until the next day.

“I love you too, Jeno.” Jaemin turned off the shower and opened the curtains, in his full glory and with the most relaxed, serious expression Jeno had ever seen on him. 

  
  
  


Exactly eleven minutes later  −because after all he decided to take a shower due to hygienic reasons− him and Jaemin cuddled on his bed, limbs intermingled the same way their hands always did.

He acknowledged some faint sounds in the living room, even some steps moving around that signalled Mark was home, likely with Donghyuck. They would’ve made their way back home as easily as him and Jaemin if only they used bikes instead of buses. But Mark kept on insisting on using public transportation for some hopeless romantic reason Jeno didn’t understand. He guessed his best friend had specific habits, too. 

Jaemin was looking at him with his eyes almost close, already going to that special place between dreams and real life that led to nothing but a confusing, levitating pleasing feeling. Without much reaction, Jeno realized he might have been there, too. 

Actually he was there for sure because he fell asleep to that white noise in less than a minute, with Jaemin's hands on his and a content sight resounding in the air.

~

“I can’t believe you even went as far as renting bikes just to come with us to Incheon.” Jaemin mumbled delighted towards the sleepy Mark and Donghyuck nested together on their seats, by the window of the train. 

“Donghyuck rented them. He really wanted to come.” Mark yawned over Donghyuck’s brown locks, more asleep than awake and sounding more like a robot than an actual human being.

“Stop lying, you prick.” was Donghyuck’s attempt at playing it cool as he nudged Mark on the ribs, but everyone had seen the way he hugged Jaemin when they woke up to share breakfast, Mark and him asking if they could accompany them to the beginning of their road. Donghyuck, to everyone’s surprise, had been all soft and longing for his best friend, which made total sense. It would be the first time they went on a holiday without the other. “Anyway, how are you even gonna survive? Like, are there any places to stay along the way? Or are you gonna sleep by the road? What are you gonna eat? And, like how long will it take you to go all the way towards home??” 

“Donghyuck you sound just like my mom!” Jaemin said full on laughing, startling the silent morning train for a second. Both Jeno and him sent apologetic looks to the sleepy crowd, probably going to work or worse, school. After all, it was just the beginning of the semester for regular people, the beginning of autumn. 

“It’s all arranged, Hyuckie!” Jeno voiced. Donghyuck could be really endearing sometimes, high-key worrying over them. “There’s a vast variety of stops along the way, since the trail was literally made for cyclists. We even have our 4-river passbooks to get a medal of certification of completion in the end!” 

“Is there such a thing here in Korea? Wow, man. That’s so cool!” Mark sounded a little less asleep with this new information. 

“Yes!!! I didn’t know either!! And well, the trail should take two weeks but we’re gonna take it slow and stop at places to give my camera great use!” Jemin said beyond excitement, making the whole train startle again. This time he didn’t even bother to look apologetic, but Jeno still did. “It goes all the way to Busan, as you know. And we will stay there for a few weeks with my family.” 

“If you happen to cross paths with my siblings there in our neighborhood tell them I say I was the one who ate those chocolates.” Donghyuck said with a devilish smile and Jaemin could only nod back with a giggle.

Half an hour later they were already getting their bikes out of the luggage compartment. It had been established within most of the train companies that those compartments were only aimed for folding bicycles, but coincidentally for their adventure the man in charge of the train they took used to be a backpacking cyclist, just like Jeno and Jaemin were about to be. So, after they told this man their plan, he didn’t even hesitate to let them pass under his responsibility, which being fair was very kind on his part (and ilegal, Jeno remarked on his mind. But Jaemin had looked so happy, the law lost some value there. Sorry.) 

“Is this the place?” Mark questioned in awe when they, in fact, got to the place.

“Yes.” Jeno exhaled, his smile impossibly wider, feeling his limbs trembling at the sight.

Before them stood the beginning of the road; a shimmering yellow waterfall of leaves enclosing over the perfectly grey and flat asphalt. It was a [sight](https://d3hne3c382ip58.cloudfront.net/files/uploads/bookmundi/resized/cms/cycling-in-south-korea-incheon-1534850169-735X412.jpg) worth appreciating, Jeno thought as he took in his friend’s enamoured eyes, one by one. 

The sky was spotless, no clouds to be seen and even less probabilities of rain ahead. The wind wasn’t warm, nor cold. It was simply perfect for biking, perfect for giving in to the vast immensity of the road. 

“ _ What the fucking hell, I’m in class, Hyuck! _ ” Renjuns’s angry shush in the speaker of a cell phone suddenly broke the peaceful silence that came along with the view. “ _ Stop calling me!” _

“Minnie is just about to leave.” Mark explained fast, knowing better than to leave Donghyuck to bicker with Renjun right now. 

Upon hearing that information there were some rustlings on Renjun’s side, some mumbles and he spoke again, this time loud and clear. 

“ _ You two better take care and send us tons of updates throughout the whole trail! _ ” 

“Yes, Injunnie!” Both Jeno and Jaemin voiced with little giggles. “We will.”

“ _ Alright, have a nice trip! _ ” He said and hung up fast. Jaemin’s best friend’s surely sucked when it came to sentimentalism, that was one thing Jeno got out of that interaction while he hugged Mark thightly. 

“I’m already proud and you haven't even started yet.” Mark mumbled, which made everyone snort.

“You’re weird, Mark.” Jaemin humored him as he hugged him too. "But thanks!"

“See you in a few weeks.” 

“See you!” Jeno yelled, getting on his bike and placing his eyes on Jaemin. 

His boyfriend looked back at him and then at the road. “I’m so excited I’m worried I could throw up my heart.” 

Jeno snickered. He felt he could do the same. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Shall we start?” 

“Of course, hun. And I’m going to win.” Jaemin just mumbled and started pedaling with the madness he had proven he had in him after so many training afternoons together. 

“What? MINNIE! WHAT? DON’T RACE ME RIGHT NOW!!” Jeno laughed trying to catch him. “Goodbye!!” was everything he could babble as he briefly turned to their friends watching them go.

And hours later, biking through forests of light and leaves, watching as Jaemin captured a little bird with his camera, Jeno thought that life could be really fun. Way much more than he had ever expected.

~

**‘The theatre is burning’ groupchat**

**Minnie**

[Image attached] 13:45

[Image attached] 13:45

[Image attached] 13:45

That’s the wooden bike I told you about!! Look at Jeno’s stupidly adorable face!!! 13:46

We even rented some weird bikes for free! Just to test on the yard behind the museum 13:46 

I can’t believe such things are real 13:47

things as in Jeno’s existence you know 13:47

and an antique bike museum in the midst of a desert 13:47

I’m so happy guys 13:49

**Junnie**

You look dumb Jaemin 13:50

pls get off that weird bike 13:50

**Cute chocoball**

And gay lmaooo 13:55

Who used to ride that bike? a furry? 13:55

**Minnie**

omfg Jeno is laughing his ass off 14:03

it legitly says furry bike in the plaque 14:03

[image attached] 14:03

What the fuck we didn’t notice before?????? 14:06

  
  


**Cute chocoball**

OMG WHAT THE FUCK 14:06

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha YES THAT'S HOW IT ENDS. This was flooded with randomness that couldn't be stopped, so I just let it be.  
> There are million things I wanna write down here as usual, so I'll go with them without context: in that duo Sungchan would be snoop dog (for apparent no reason) and Jungwoo would be PSY but much more lgbtq+. Please check out 'don't call me' by shinee! It's a bop and thank you so much for reading! Sorry if it was a little bit chaotic, maybe sixteen people in a scene was beyond my current writing capability ｡ﾟ･ (>﹏<) ･ﾟ｡
> 
> Ever since I wrote my first story I realized I find it harder to write some special POVS and Jeno has always been one of those, so that's why I tried to challenge myself to write the whole epilogue from his eyes and thoughts. It's just a way to deepen my love for him and do justice to his fictional feelings ahahha since we know a lot about Jaemin and his whipped ass. (Thanks to this Jeno POV we get that he's just as whipped)
> 
> Anyway, thanks to anyone who read, commented or left a kudo. It means a lot to me for emotional reasons hehe aaaand I will drop the ted talk because I saw it on TV with my family and we had a blast over it (It has eng subs on youtube, so if you wanna watch it it's called "El sueño de las aves" (I tried to add the link but as you see...I'm not a pro in HTML like Jaemin is)
> 
> Ps: If anyone happen to want a markhyuck spin off tell me in the comments, I kinda wanted to write it but I'm not entirely sure now, maybe my next project should be about mermaids or...lifeguards. Who knows. Everything's possible!! 
> 
> Well, now goodbye! Stay healthy and please keep on taking great care!! See ya!

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god sorry!!! I swear I'm halfway the second part!!! Thanks for reading or commenting, it means a lot!!! See you soon <3


End file.
